By Janice Podsada
Herald Writer
EDMONDS — Landlubbers and seafarers should see major changes at the Port of Edmonds in the next few years.
Two projects are in the works — one on land, and one at sea, said Port Commissioner Ken Reid.
Port officials have applied for a construction permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to reconstruct one of the marina’s docks.
On land, the port’s offices may overlook a fine-arts center for working artists.
The dock provides small-boat moorage, which accommodates boats 24 to 28 feet in length. Construction plans would replace the small-boat moorage with 22 slips for boats 50 feet and larger.
Reid said the demand for small sport fishing boat slips has fallen.
"We have way more of the smaller slips than we need. For whatever the reason, the demand for 50-foot boat slips has increased."
In fall 1996, during a severe snowstorm, all but one of the Edmonds marina’s covered moorage docks gave way under the weight of snow and rain. The docks collapsed, and a majority of the boats were damaged.
"We rebuilt the marina under emergency permitting approvals, which required us to rebuild everything as it was," Reid said.
In the intervening years, the area’s moorage needs have changed.
If the port’s application is approved, nine 50-foot slips and 13 54-foot slips will be constructed sometime in 2003.
Meanwhile, the Fine Arts Center of Edmonds, a non-profit group, recently signed an agreement that would allow it to build an arts center next to the port office in the 300 block of Admiral Way.
The group has been searching for a location to build a $6 million, two-story building to house a gallery and 35 artists’ studios, said Michael Smith, the group’s president.
Under the agreement, the 28,000-square-foot center must be built in five years. The group will launch a major capital campaign in the next few months to raise the money.
An open studio design will allow visitors to observe artists, such as painters, glassblowers, sculptors and jewelrymakers, at work. A first-floor gallery would provide exhibition space, Smith said.
"The whole idea is to attract and keep artists. We’re at the beginning stages here. We have our work cut out for us," Smith said.
You can call Herald Writer Janice Podsada at 425-339-3029 or send e-mail to podsada@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
