This preliminary plan for a Forks Rainforest Art Center

This preliminary plan for a Forks Rainforest Art Center

Townsfolks’ favored rendering for new arts center would modernize look of Forks

FORKS — A preliminary plan for a brick and metal Rainforest Art Center that could be lighted with varied colored lights received an “extremely positive” response from up to 85 percent of those who saw it last week, said Rod Fleck, city attorney and planner.

About 5 percent to 10 percent shrugged during two feedback sessions when possible plans were on display Friday, he estimated.

And another 10 percent or so “just did not like it at all,” Fleck said.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

“The architects” of NAC of Seattle “heard the comments,” he added. “They will go back with those comments and make some adjustments.”

Two variations — in terms of color and other details — of a proposed design for the $2.1 million building will be unveiled at a joint meeting of the West End Business and Professionals Association and the Forks Chamber of Commerce at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday,

Oct. 23 in the Department of Natural Resources conference room, 411 Tillicum Lane.

The plans are expected to be brought to the Forks City Council on Monday, Oct. 28. The council meets at 7:30 p.m. in the council conference room at City Hall, 500 E. Division St.

Fleck said the hope is that bids for construction will be requested in early January, with construction slated to begin in April and the new center open by April 2015.

The new building will replace the old arts center — formerly the landmark International Order of Odd Fellows building — that burned in October and for which the city received a $2.64 million insurance settlement.

The plans are for a building

1½ stories tall on the two lots at the corner of Forks Avenue and Division Street, Fleck said.

Plans for the center were displayed in City Hall and during the Spartan homecoming game at Forks High School on Friday, and between 40 and 50 people discussed them, he said.

“Another floor plan and layout was shown, and they did not like that,” Fleck said.

The one that people gravitated to, now the apparent “preferred alternative,” according to Fleck, has an exterior of metal and brick and an interior mostly of wood.

“The exteriors are materials that are long-term durable and are easy maintenance,” Fleck said.

The portion that is metal — a type of steel, Fleck said — would reflect light, “which we are hoping will add to it.”

Exterior illumination could be done with LED, or light-emitting diode, lights.

“We could change the color of the lights and so change the color of the building,” Fleck said.

For instance, during homecoming week, the building could have been lighted with the high school colors of blue and gold.

“We could change the color of the building with a flip of a switch,” Fleck said.

The metal exterior would be around the 2,500-square-foot performing arts center, which would be on the left side of the building as one is looking at the front, he said.

The performing arts portion of the center would be roughly the same size as the old one.

It would be an open space with no fixed seating, because it is intended to be multi-functional, providing an area for classes, theater, ballet, haunted houses and other community events.

The center section of the building would be the entrance and a lobby.

The right side, which would have a brick exterior, would house retail establishments that would lease space from the city.

The space inside would be enough for one medium-sized shop or two small ones, Fleck said, with the 1,300 square feet of business space generating revenue to help pay for the center.

The retail side of the center would be on the corner lot that once was the site of the old Olympic Pharmacy and the last home of the Forks Dazzled by Twilight store.

The West Olympic Council of the Arts bought the lot and deeded the property to the city.

________

Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or at leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.

Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie contributed to this report.

More in News

Boating coach Eric Lesch, at a whiteboard, explains sailing techniques to a youth sailboat class. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Teenagers learning boating skills through program

Nonprofit funded by grants, agencies and donations

Land trust successful with campaign fund

Public access expected to open this year

Mark Hodgson.
Hodgson plans to run for Port Angeles City Council

Schromen-Wawrin, who currently holds seat, won’t run again

Pet vaccination clinic set for Saturday in Port Townsend

Pet Helpers of Port Townsend will conduct a pet… Continue reading

Charter Review Commission to conduct town hall Monday

The Clallam County Charter Review Commission will conduct a… Continue reading

Alexander Hamilton.
Clallam deputies graduate from state training center

Corrections deputies Alexander Hamilton and Cameron Needham have graduated… Continue reading

Parker Brocious, 6, from Cedar Hills, Utah, studies tubs containing plankton, krill and other small ocean creatures used by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center for education purposes while on a road trip with his family on Tuesday at Fort Worden State Park. Parker’s father Tyler is at left. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Science education

Parker Brocious, 6, from Cedar Hills, Utah, studies tubs containing plankton, krill… Continue reading

Port Angeles approves lodging tax fund requests

Vacancy on committee brings legal questions

OMC hires family medicine physician

Dr. Calvin Kuo will join hospital in August

Colton Dufour, left, and his mom Cherie Tachell. (Cherie Tachell)
Boy seriously injured following hit-and-run

Condition is stable, but more testing underway for Sequim teenager

Applications open for Forks council seat

The Forks City Council is accepting applications to fill a… Continue reading