By Mike Drake
Cloudy skies couldn’t dampen the spirits of a large crowd of students, staff and politicians during the grand opening of Peninsula College’s new campus located in Port Townsend, Wa.
Building 202, formally a military barracks located in Fort Worden State Park, was completed in late September.
On Oct. 24, 2016, Peninsula College President Luke Robins gave a short speech, before the ribbon cutting ceremony, to a crowd of about 75 people.
Among those in attendance were State Representative Steve Tharinger, State Representative Kevin Van De Wege and former Pt. Townsend Mayor David King.
Julie McCulloch, Peninsula College Board of Trustees Chair said, “I am filled with gratitude for the enormous effort made by so many individuals, over so many years, to bring us to this day. A mentor of mine once said ‘It is amazing what we can accomplish when nobody cares who gets the credit and when we realize it may take 20 years to accomplish our goal’. By that definition, we have succeeded.”
“If this were literature, it would not be a novel, it would be a saga.” Said McCulloch. “P.C. moved to the Fort Worden schoolhouse in 2004 and plans began immediately to embark on the long journey toward acquiring funding for an expanded facility to serve East Jefferson County.
Peninsula College Vice President for Finance and Administration Deborah Frazier said, “P.C. bore all the costs of the pre-design, which had to be completed in order to request state appropriations ($43,000), and that P.C. led the design and construction process, which entailed a significant commitment of human resources. The final versions of the pre-design was completed in 2008”
The city of Port Townsend, The PC Foundation, Port Townsend’s Public Development Authority and Peninsula College have worked together to make this historical event possible.
“The PDA has responsibility for the whole campus area at the Park; 202 lies within that area. The college, The PC Foundation and the PDA have a management agreement in place to reflect how we’re working together operationally,”
said Frazier. “That includes the possibility for the PDA to act as a rental agent on behalf of the college to rent out space in 202 if/when the college isn’t using it, and mundane details such as paying for utilities, parking management, etc. The college and the PDA also have an agreement in place to work together to develop joint programming as part of the vision for the Lifelong Learning Center.”
Frazier said McCulloch and her family had made a generous contribution of $30,000 to the Peninsula College foundation toward the building and outfitting of the science classroom at 202.
In 2012 Peninsula College was awarded $700,000 toward energy grant for building 202. Frazier said, “Laura Price, our Capital Coordinator at the time, wrote the energy grant for Peninsula College”
Shilo Cadorette, 26, is currently studying early childhood education iat 202. Cadorette said, “I really like the new building. It’s awesome!”