Fort Worden park to have year-round arts

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, June 21, 2007

PORT TOWNSEND – This year, state legislators and state parks officials approved a plan to transform Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend into a center for lifelong learning, a place where discovery, retreat and renewal can occur.

Those are some mighty highfalutin terms. So what does that mean to you, Jane and John Q. Public who are looking to score some first-class entertainment?

Well, it means more. More art, more music. And quite basically, it means more bathrooms.

“In the past, we were full of summer events, but starting this year, the arts will be happening here year-round,” said Jordan Hartt, communications coordinator for the nonprofit group called Centrum.

The summer months are certainly the “hot times” for Fort Worden; times when tourists and fun seekers are known to flock to the park’s events.

This year is no different, with such unique offerings as the Port Townsend Slide and Steel Festival, starting Sunday, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, beginning July 1 and the widely popular Jazz Port Townsend festival slated for July 22.

These summer festivals will continue as the events at Fort Worden expand into the fall and winter. More master classes for writers, more educational and workshop opportunities and more lectures and intimate music gatherings will be offered.

Not only will these art offerings expand, the physical site that is Fort Worden also is meant to get “mo better.”

“The kayaking will be better, the food will be better, the wetlands will be better,” said Thatcher Bailey.

Bailey is the executive director of Centrum, a nonprofit group that provides the arts workshops, artist residences and public performances at Fort Worden State Park. The organization is based at Fort Worden and, like a tenant, it pays rent to the state for that space.

Centrum and Fort Worden’s partnership began in 1973. Besides Centrum, Fort Worden also is home to the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, Peninsula College, Goddard College and Copper Canyon Press.

There was a time, however, when Fort Worden wasn’t so lively.

Fort Worden began as just that, a military base. It remained that way until the base closed in 1953. The fort changed into a juvenile detention center until the center closed in 1971. Afterward, the fort sat empty and turned into kind of a ghost town.

The state eventually bought the 434 acres and opened Fort Worden State Park in 1973. The park still has a balloon hangar that was converted into McCurdy Pavilion, anti-aircraft gun emplacements, restored officers’ quarters and an extensive system of abandoned bunkers. It was the site of the 1982 movie, “An Officer and a Gentleman” and part of the 2002 film “The Ring.” It’s the only Washington state park designated by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a national historic landmark.

Walking through Fort Worden, which lies along the Admiralty Inlet overlooking the Victorian seaport of Port Townsend, is like walking through another time in state history. With history though, there is age, meaning and, in Fort Worden’s case, aging accommodations.

Those at Centrum and the lovers and advocates of Fort Worden, including state Reps. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, and Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, as well as Sen. Jim Hargrove, knew the park needed money for improvements and to proceed with its long-range plan of offering year-round arts events.

During this past Legislative session, with a push from these lawmakers, the state approved $465,000 to be spent on improving Fort Worden.

One major improvement is to increase the number of rooms with private baths – a recommendation is to have between 70 and 100 guestrooms with private baths – and to improve the level of maintenance and creature comforts.

Bailey also envisions additional programs, like fitness training for people with disabilities. Another is to boost the culinary training program by focusing more on sustainable farming and adding a demonstration garden.

Bailey said the goal is to “increase the capacities of all of us here” but not forget why people come to Fort Worden.

“We’ve got very in-demand musicians who could be making a lot more money touring Europe or someplace else. But they love the hang,” Bailey said. “That’s value. And part of the process (of evolving) is really understanding that depth of value.”

Hartt agreed.

“We are changing and growing,” he said. “And not losing what we have.”

Arts writer Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.