AN AUCTION FOR THE ARTS VAA throws its biggest annual fundraiser. Page 10
NEWS | Dispute over Mukai Farmhouse heads to court [3] COMMUNITY | Meals program enters its second year [13] SPORTS | Cyclists turn out en masse for Passport to Pain [15]
INGENIOUS ISLANDERS A new tour shines a light on our best ideas. Page 4
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012 Vol. 57, No. 38
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Park district faces new budget woes Commissioners look for ways to trim $88,864 By LESLIE BROWN Staff Writer
Natalie Johnson/Staff Photo
Nancy and Chuck Hooper say they’re working to address problems at the Beall Greenhouses, a property they bought 20 years ago.
Reclaiming the Beall Greenhouses Owners of Vashon’s only historic district say they’re working to preserve it By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer
A mile outside bustling Vashon town sits a relic of the past. Dozens of greenhouses, once filled with world-renowned orchids and roses, are now in various stages of disrepair and decay. Beaten by harsh Northwest weather and slowly swallowed by thick undergrowth, the buildings, some of them a century old, seem to be quietly returning to the earth. But there is also new life at the Beall Greenhouses. In the middle of the decomposing complex now sits a commercial quarter of a different kind. Manicured lawns and well-tended gardens butt up against the dilapidated structures. A couple of rustic homes have been remod-
eled and rented out. Several of the complex’s largest buildings have been shored up and reclaimed as unconventional studio spaces for some of the Island’s best-known artists. Indeed, as King County seeks to designate Center — a more intact piece of Island history — as a historic district, Chuck and Nancy Hooper are working to fight against the forces of time in an effort to realize an ambitious dream for what is currently the Island’s only other historic district. “We could look beyond all the mess that was here and see something in it, a gem in the rough,” Chuck Hooper said last week, sitting in the couple’s home at the property. “We still see it,” he added. The Hoopers purchased the Beall Greenhouses 20 years ago, and their ownership of the site has been as almost as eventful as its history as a the country’s largest commercial greenhouse complex. After years of what they describe as constant labor to revive the property — all the while battling rumors and criticism by Islanders —
the Hoopers say things are finally starting to look up at the greenhouses on Beall Road. There’s a waiting list of artists eager for space, they say, and with the passage of time the community, too, seems more receptive. “We’re actually putting a lot of work back into this place again,” Chuck said. “We can see it’s turning around finally, and we’re getting a great reception from the arts community.” The Hoopers came to Vashon in the late 1980s looking for a few acres where they could live and perhaps begin a new business leasing small cranes. A real estate agent sent the couple to the Beall Greenhouses, a 25-acre property at the time already falling into disrepair after the Beall family moved its flower-growing operation to Colombia. When the Hoopers laid eyes on the place, they say, a new dream started to form. A steal at less than $100,000, they bought the property with hopes of transforming it into a large commercial SEE GREENHOUSES, 12
Vashon Park District’s five commissioners might lay off employees or close its popular skate park for the remainder of the year in order to shave $88,864 in projected overruns from its current operating budget. The latest financial news surfaced during a spirited and sometimes raucous board meeting last Tuesday night, when several Islanders — some of them unhappy with the board — asked pointed questions about the agency’s fiscal status, the role the fields project has played in its budget difficulties and the degree of oversight the board has provided. A few of the commissioners, meanwhile, expressed their own frustrations and
disappointment with the situation. “I’m a proud man. I’ve been here 28 years. And I’m not happy,” said Bill Ameling, who chairs the board and has served as a commissioner since the agency’s inception. “It’s clearly our fault. And it’s clearly our purview to work things out.” Earlier in the meeting, David Hackett, another commissioner, characterized the district’s financial situation in stark terms. “We’re essentially in a boat with holes in it, and a torpedo is headed our way,” he said. The district, he added, “needs to start bailing now.” The meeting came in the wake of several months of difficult news about the small agency, which has faced declining property tax revenues over the past two years at the same time that its fields project has ballooned in costs and it SEE PARKS, 19
Ref. 74 advocates look to Vashon for support By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer
As the November election draws near, many Islanders are speaking up and taking action on a hot-button issue they say is especially personal on Vashon: same-sex marriage. Rather than lay low in a place already known for being liberal and gay-friendly, some of Vashon’s gay marriage supporters say they can play an important role this November, when voters will decide whether to legalize same-sex marriage through Ref. 74. “This is not an insular community,” said Maureen Burke, who a few months ago organized Vashon Families United for Marriage (VFUM) with her partner Pearce Cobarr. “We have connections across the state. … We see it is an opportunity to take this to the next level.” SEE REF. 74, 18