Site preparation underway for Pea Patch Community Campus
Published 1:30 am Monday, July 27, 2026
Submitted by the Pea Patch Community Campus.
Summer is in full swing, and so is the site work to prepare the Pea Patch Community Campus for construction! If you peek into the property, you may notice some big piles of dirt. The current work effort by our local earthwork contractor, Island Ex, includes utility connections, stormwater retention installation and construction of the new entry road. Special thanks to our neighbors for their patience during this dusty and noisy phase of the project!
The old Curtis farmhouse is prepped to be moved into its new location as the commons building for the OPAL neighborhood of 20 townhomes. There are two existing buildings on the property providing rental housing that OPAL carefully inspected for building integrity, safety and efficiency. The larger home is in good condition and occupied with long-term leases in place; OPAL has used some funding from the County to make health and safety upgrades. The smaller home is vacant, and the assessment showed its condition does not warrant renovation. That building will be taken down this fall.
Vertical construction on the 20 townhomes will begin in September. OPAL is negotiating final bid documents and a contractor will be announced by end of summer. The homes are designed by Environmental Works and will be similar to the buildings at April’s Grove. We are excited to be able to provide the stability of long-term, affordable leases to 20 island households in need as early as 2028.
For those who want to get into the details of the site work as it evolves, there is a binder behind the front counter at the Orcas Island library that can be viewed in the library with permitting documents, studies and plans.
On the fundraising front, the Pea Patch Campaign has raised approximately $33M to date, with about $7M left to go for project completion. The majority of the funding has come from public sources (state, county and one federal appropriation); private foundations and individual gifts make up the rest. A donor has offered to match up to $250,000 in gifts of $10,000-$25,000 over the summer, and $114,000 has been contributed to date toward that match. A series of house parties is underway this summer to help reach more donors, and several large pledges have resulted. Thanks to all of you who have participated, and please let me know if you’d like to attend a party later this season to learn more about the project.
For more information on the campaign to build the Pea Patch Community Campus, check out the new campaign website (https://peapatchcommunitycampus-campaign.org/). And, the Food Bank has a new video called “Making Space” that tells the story of how the new building will meet their needs for serving the community (https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=fFeYiFUr6T3nPJ-c&v=RwDT4UKOf6w&feature=youtu.be).
The Pea Patch Community Campus is a community collaboration led by OPAL Community Land Trust, the Orcas Island Food Bank and the Orcas Island Community Foundation. Gifts to support the Pea Patch Community Campus can be made through OICF’s Pea Patch Community Campus Fund (https://oicf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=3021).
