Capital campaign begins to expand, remodel Dungeness River Audubon Center

A capital campaign launched last week with the aim to expand the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s Dungeness River Audubon Center at Railroad Bridge Park, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road.

Campaign partners with the tribe, River Center and Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society gathered with community members on June 22 at the park’s entrance to publicly kickoff the $2.9 million campaign and unveil new signage and designs by architect Roy Hellwig for the project.

Ron Allen, Jamestown’s tribal chairman, and Annette Hanson, the campaign’s capital committee chair, revealed the new signs with the tagline “Inspire Wonder.”

Allen told the crowd of more than 40 people that the center has “grown immensely” since it opened in 2001.

“The fact that it’s out of room shows the enthusiasm and value of it,” he said. “The events that go on around here show people care about this river, they care about the estuary, and they care about the park.”

Hanson said they’ve raised more than 40 percent of their goal in the last year and need about $1.7 million to construct a new road, expand the center about 5,000 square feet, and remodel the existing 1,600 square feet center.

“Personally, my goal is to break ground (on the center) within a year,” Hanson said.

“We know the potential is here. People treasure this place. I call it an oasis myself. I see people eating their lunches here. Families playing. People going up and down the trestle in strollers and wheelchairs. It’s a place everyone feels they can come.”

In 2016, the tribe purchased 4.5 acres connecting the center to Hendrickson Road, which will serve as the new entrance to the park.

Capital campaign committee volunteers said high waters from the Dungeness River flooded the road over the years but a new entrance wouldn’t see that issue.

Hanson said phase I includes installing a gravel roadway and parking lot from Hendrickson Road to the center. It could tentatively finish this year and be paved once construction on the center is complete, she said.

Phase II includes expanding the Dungeness River Audubon Center to about 5,000 square feet to include a 150-seat meeting room, conference room, lobby, commercial kitchen, storage and a new office space.

Phase III would remodel the existing building to add a bird viewing area, exhibit area and library.

Full support

Powell Jones, director of the center, said its purpose is to be “a conduit for people to be inspired about where they live” and in its 16 years it’s “doing well but we’re cramped.”

In 2017, River Center staff report it hosted about 23,000 visitors and 616 educational programs, exhibits, field trips, meetings and events.

Hanson said an improved building would allow them not to “tip-toe through other meetings” but rather meet in separate spaces.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to increase space for educating the community about the natural world and the wonders of nature,” said Bob Phreaner, president of the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society.

Prior to beginning the capital campaign, Hanson said they’ve secured about $85,000 in grants from foundations and plan to keep applying for grants until the total is reached.

Capital campaign committee members plan to speak with service groups about support, too, she said.

Following the purchase of the new acreage and its pledges, Hanson said the tribe contributed about 25 percent of the total project.

“Once this whole roadway comes in, we’ll educate the public from the time they drive in, all the way to going into the center and walking around the park,” Allen said. “We’re not done. The tribe and the board are looking to keep adding to it. It will be a centerpiece. More and more people are learning about it. It’s fun and exciting. By the time we get it done, we’ll already be onto our next phase.”

The center was the first Audubon Center in Washington and the first in the nation to be next to a salmon-spawning river, Capital Campaign Committee members report.

Donations can be made online at www.dungenessrivercenter.org and checks can be made to “Building Fund” and sent to the “Dungeness River Audubon Center, P.O. Box 2450, Sequim, WA, 98382.”

For more information on the Inspire Wonder capital campaign, contact Powell Jones at 360-681-4076 or Annette Hanson at 360-670-6774.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Henry Lutz, 5, of Puyallup looks into a microscope on June 22 inside the Dungeness River Audubon Center during a family trip to the Olympic Peninsula. Last year, the center hosted 8,000 people and now volunteers seek $1.7 million to finish a campaign to expand the center.

A new driveway off Hendrickson Road would lead to a revamped Dungeness River Audubon Center. Organizers of the capital campaign say the new center would expand space and offerings while providing better access to and from the Olympic Discovery Trail. Image by Roy Hellwig