Great news for Orcas Center

It gets $150,000 for building expansion fund

“There was a lot of jumping up and down,” exclaimed Mary Riveland, Orcas Center trustee.

That was the scene last Friday when Orcas Center got word that it has been awarded a $150,000 grant for its projected expansion. The award came from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, of Vancouver, Wash.

It marks the second biggest award Orcas Center has received since its fund-raising campaign began nearly two years ago. The biggest, for more than $400,000, came from the State of Washington. This latest gift brings to about $2.5 million the amount raised during the campaign.

It couldn’t have come at a better time, Riveland added, explaining that Orcas Center is now receiving bids from contractors to add dressing rooms, a “black box” theatre, storage space, rest rooms and offices. Those bids will be opened next Tuesday, March 12, at 3 p.m. at a board meeting at Orcas Center.

There are still no assurances that the expansion will take place, but the grant gives Orcas Center staff and board members reason for optimism that it will happen. “We’re getting very close to knowing if we can go ahead,” Riveland said.

When the fundraising campaign began, it was estimated that $3 million would be needed both to expand the facility and establish an endowment that would pay for maintenance and upkeep over the next 20 years. Board members are keeping their fingers crossed that the bids will come in lower than what they had earlier projected.

No decisions will be made next Tuesday regarding the bids. The architectural firm handling the construction, Bumgardner and Associates, of Seattle, will review the details of each bid to make sure they match the specifications.

The board will likely make a final decision at its April 26 meeting. Should members opt to proceed with construction, the work will begin right away.

The grant proposal was written by former Orcas Center Executive Director Molly Herzog. Representatives of the Murdock Charitable Trust conducted a site visit of Orcas Center last January.

— Ted Grossman is editor of islandssounder.com and The Islands’ Sounder. He can be reached at (360) 376-4500 or email.

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