Shavings Volume 20 Number 1 (February 1999)

Page 1

Volume X X

Published bi-monthly by The Center for Wooden Boats Seattle, WA

Number 1 February, 1999 ISSN 0734-0680 1992, CWB

CAMA BEACH MOVING RIGHT ALONG When the new Cama Beach State Park on Camano Island opens, reviving a nature and recreational experience enjoyed by Northwesterners from the '30s until the late '80s. it will have a new element: the programs and activities of The Center for Wooden Boats. Shavings periodically reports on the progress being made at Cama Beach.

The design and engineering of the Park improvements are being hustled along by State Parks. With hard work and good luck, construction will break loose like a tornado on September 1, 1999. Everything needed will happen at once: water, waste and electrical systems, roads and parking, renovation and new construction.

Although it may seem a snail's pace to many, the development of the new Cama Beach State Park is moving along at a brisk pace.

The new construction, which all will be handicapped accessible, includes a dining hall for 130 people, with dormitory and common room upstairs. A retreat lodge also will be built. This will have 15 guestrooms and a conference room for up to 50.

A Ranger has been designated for the future park. His name is Frank Galloway and he will be our site manager, Serjeant-at-Arms and general overseer of all his domain - 450 acres of beach, meadow, forest, wetlands, eagles, otters, deer, raccoons, 'possums and a rag-tag crew of boat nuts and tree huggers.

The existing waterfront cabins also will be restored in this first phase of development. When all the dust has settled, there will be a grand opening in the fall of 2000. We'll keep

you informed of that event and the classes, conferences, talks and general get-togethers we are planning. I can't keep cool and calm about our future presence in Cama Beach. The site is part of my excitement. The other thing is our relationship with the key players: State Parks Commission, the Family (the granddaughters of the founder of the Cama Beach Resort and their husbands) and the Cama Beach Institute. We have found partners who support our mission and goals. Together we are creating a new dimension in State Parks. There never has been one like Cama Beach - dedicated to preserving its natural and cultural resources. Remembering back 20 years when we proposed building a park and maritime heritage center at South Lake Union, there were skepticism and downright doomsday predictions by some of our government officials. Believe me, it's great to start a new campus with a landlord rooting for our success. They like to say C W B is their "anchor tenant." And so we shall be. Dick Wagner

Members of The Center for Wooden Boats Board of Trustees and other interested folks got a first-hand look at Cama Beach recently. Some of the 50 to-be-rennovated waterfront cabins that will be available for visitors, including CWB workshop students, are at right. The large building in the background is the Boatshop. - Phil Thiel photo


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Shavings Volume 20 Number 1 (February 1999) by The Center for Wooden Boats - Issuu