Longtime Edmonds resident leaves legacy at new senior center

EDMONDS — They held her 85th birthday party there.

Well into her 90s, she still often attended Friday Flings, where she danced the foxtrot, swing and Cha-Cha.

So when Edmonds Senior Center regular Rose Mary Specht died in August at 94, it just made sense to make a donation from her estate to a new Edmonds senior center now under construction, said her son, Jim Specht.

But instead of a cash gift, Specht transferred solar credits purchased in his mother’s name to the re-branded Edmonds Waterfront Center.

“This way she could literally bring sunshine into other people’s lives for years to come,” he said. “Five, 10, 15 years from now, people can still benefit.”

Each of the 25 credits, purchased from the Snohomish County PUD, represents a 20-year lease for one-fifth of a panel at a solar farm in Arlington. Energy harvested from the panels offsets some of the owner’s electric bill.

PUD spokesperson Aaron Swaney said Specht’s gift was the first of its kind for the solar program.

Transferring units between families or to an organization is “exactly the way we’d like to see it work in the future,” he said. “To us, that’s a win-win.”

Daniel Johnson is the capital campaign director for the Edmonds Waterfront Center, which broke ground in July and is to open next summer.

He’s worked in the nonprofit world for 34 years, but he’s never seen a donation like Specht’s, he said.

Johnson said the gift adds to the project’s focus on environmental sustainability.

“There’s a bright light that’s being shone on climate change and I think everyone is asking, ‘What can I do?’” Johnson said.

The idea for the Edmonds Waterfront Center was born when the current center began to age. The design was outdated and the floor had started to sink, Johnson said.

“All arrows pointed toward a new building,” he said. “Rather than just going to the city and saying build us a new senior center, they went and said if you give us a long-term lease, we’ll get the money and build a center for people of all ages.”

Some of the $16 million for the project came from the state with a requirement that the building meet LEED silver standards — a checklist for sustainable facility practices like low water use, protecting habitat and bicycle accessibility.

Johnson said the board was urged to take their environmental commitment a step further and go for the LEED gold certification, which includes having no fossil fuels on site and a robust solar energy design.

In October, the board voted unanimously to pursue the gold standard.

One area affected by that decision is the center’s community cafe, which is being run by Shubert Ho, owner of Edmonds eateries like Salt and Iron and Bar Dojo. The kitchen will operate without gas.

“If you talk to professional chefs, they’d say they prefer cooking with gas,” Johnson said. “Shubert, he sees that this is the wave and he said technology in commercial kitchens is catching up.”

The cafe will be open to the public, with low-income seniors still getting a subsidized meal.

The Edmonds Waterfront Center could become a national model, Johnson said.

Jim Specht said he made the donation without knowing about the center’s commitment to the environment.

Rose Mary Specht first got the solar credits as a gift from her son.

Jim, who lives in Friday Harbor, thought it was something his mother would appreciate.

He has credits of his own from a similar program and hasn’t paid a power bill in 18 months, he said.

The PUD’s solar community went live in September, a month after Specht died.

“I think she would be very happy to know that she was able to do something that was going to affect people for a long time,” Jim Specht said.

Outside the senior center, Rose Mary Specht was active in Edmonds.

Jim Specht described her as a cheerful person who knew a lot of people.

She lived in town for nearly 65 years, her son said.

When Jim was closing out his mother’s bank accounts, the teller recognized him right away. He asked the teller if they’d met before and she replied, “No, but your mom showed me your picture.”

Joey Thompson: 425-339-3449; jthompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @byjoeythompson.