PORT ANGELES — Roaring ’20s-era dancing has been added to this year’s Port Angeles Heritage Weekend, a two-day celebration of the city’s colorful past which begins Saturday.

Dancing starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the atrium at The Landing mall, 115 E. Railroad Ave.

Admission is free.

Taped music from the 1920s will be played.

“If they want to come in costume, that’s welcome, too, but it’s not necessary,” said Don Perry, chairman of Heritage Weekend committee and a Port Angeles City Council member.

“Everything else is pretty well what we’ve done in the past,” he said.

Now in its eighth year, Heritage Weekend includes walking tours of downtown Port Angeles with a visit to the historic Underground, driving tours of Civil War-era homes and a rare peek inside the soon-to-be removed Elwha Dam.

These tours cost $12 for adults and $8 for children, with a family pass for two adults and up to three children available for $30. The tours depart from the atrium at The Landing mall.

Town’s unique story

Perry, who has been a Heritage Weekend organizer from the start, said he enjoys “watching people’s faces when they hear the story of Port Angeles.”

“I have had people on the tours that have lived in Port Angeles 50, 60 and 70 years that knew that there was an underground but had no idea how it was created,” said Perry, who also leads daily walking tours of the city’s Underground.

The Underground was created when the downtown streets were raised in the early 1900s, turning the ground floors of many buildings into basements.

“I’ve had people on the tour in their 50s and 60s that said, ‘You know, I’ve learned more in two hours than I knew about the city in all the time I’ve lived here.’ Born and raised here. That’s what keeps me going.”

Walking tours leave The Landing every hour.

“The stories that we tell along the way is how the city was raised, particularly in 1914,” Perry said.

Elwha Dam tours

Perry said the tour of Elwha Dam could be the last chance for people to see the inside of the dam before it and the Glines Canyon Dam are torn down to permit restoration of salmon habitat in a free-flowing Elwha River.

Perry is expecting a big turnout.

“One of the reasons is, SSof course, they’re coming down in 2011, and this may be the last year that we’re able to take the tours of the dam,” Perry said.

“They may have to do some prep work and so on next year. That hasn’t been confirmed, and there’s no way of confirming that until next year, but right now it could be the last chance to see it.”

The Elwha Dam tours — and the driving tours of historic homes– leave at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m Saturday. They leave at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Before the van departs for the tour of the dam, visitors must present proof of U.S. citizenship because of federal restrictions on certain federal facilities, Perry explained.

Children under 16 are not permitted on the dam tours for safety reasons.

On Heritage Weekend, the storytellers on the walking tours wear costumes that depict historic Port Angeles and explain how the city was built.

Space is limited on the tours.

The Coast Guard will simulate a helicopter drop rescue off the City Pier at 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.

A Coast Guard Fast Boat will be displayed at Front and Laurel streets Saturday.

Laurel Street will be closed from Front Street to First Street on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the Classic Car Show and its booths.

Clallam County Commissioner Mike Doherty will lead a $5 tour of the courthouse clock tower at 223 E. Fourth St. at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Perry said the turnout for Heritage Weekend has been constantly between 500 and 750 guests in recent years, evenly split between residents and out-of-town guests.

The Port Angeles Downtown Association will organize Heritage Weekend beginning next year, Perry said.

Perry will continue to organize and guide the twice-daily tours of the Port Angeles underground that leave Monday through Saturday from the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center on Railroad Avenue.

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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladaily news.com.