OLYCAP MOVING INTO NEW COMMUNITY CENTER

By Chris Cook - Forks Forum editor

The Forks Community Center is on the way to being opened to the public.

The first official community event was held at the center in mid-February when the Quillayute Valley Parks and Recreation District (QVPRD) held a fundraising  Tupperware party in the facility. Funds from the sale went towards maintaining the adjacent Forks Aquatic Center, which is also run by the QVPRD.

“Visitors were very complimentary of the new facility and stated it will be great for the community,” Sandra Carter, board chair of QVPRD said in an e-mail to the Forks Forum.
 
OlyCAP signed an operating agreement with QVPRD for the management of the community center on Feb. 15, Carter reported. 

Carter said representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency used sections of the new building to provide local assistance in December to West End residents impacted by the windstorm of early December.

“It was great to have the space available and also helped as a shake-down of the new building,” Carter said of FEMA’s use of the building.

OlyCAP is beginning to move into the new building from their facility located nearby. The older facility was constructed by the USDA’s forest division.

OlyCAP is to manage the building for QVPRD. The City of Forks helped construct the building through facilitating a federal grant. The QVPRD owns the land, the building, the Forks Aquatic Center and four rental units sit on off Division Street.
Carter said a glitch with the heating in the new facility’s dining room needs to be corrected prior to relocating the Senior Nutrition Program from the older building being used by OlyCAP.

A tour of the new, spacious building shows a large meeting area for community events, expanded office space for OlyCAP and a fully-furnished industrial size and strength community kitchen. The kitchen has already received approval for public use.

A secondary use of the building is as a disaster shelter and the building is set up to be run with generator power if needed.
OlyCAP will be handling requests for rental use of the facility by the public, and the organization is drawing up guidelines, Carter said.

Office furniture and equipment for the center was donated by Bill Sperry with the shipping paid by OlyCAP. OlyCAP has ordered a variety of dining and multi-use tables so that the spaces will accommodate many types of functions, she said.
 
Poster March 5, 2008