Photo first published in the Herald on November 10, 1998 by Scott Brummel - The photo was taken about 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 5, 1998, morning before the bulldozers razed what was left of the Raymond Hotel building on 3rd Street after a devastati
On a bright and sunny afternoon, the Joint Pacific County Housing Authority held a historic groundbreaking ceremony. On Thursday, June 24, 2021, at noon a small crowd gathered in the park beside the Raymond Fire Station on Third St. for the long-awaited groundbreaking of the Willapa Center.
The center is designed to be a 3-story affordable housing complex, Early Childhood Education Assistance Program site, and non-profit offices located in downtown Raymond.
This project is intended to take the place of the Willapa Hotel, which was lost in a fire on November 5, 1998. The new center will sit on the same site as the hotel did.
The history of the Willapa Hotel building spanned over 80 years. By the 1990s, the hotel had transitioned into housing for low income families and businesses on the ground floor. Right before the fire, the City of Raymond was alerted that the place had ancient wiring and was recognized as an accident waiting to happen.
"The City had already begun to negotiate to buy the building from the owner and was looking for renovation money," said CEO of JPCHA/HOSWWA Jennifer Westerman. "But on November 5, 1998, there was a spectacular fire. Flames were shooting out of the building in every direction. Fortunately it was right next door to the fire hall and everyone was able to get out, but they lost everything."
"We ended up with 90 people standing on the street homeless," she continued. "The community really came together to support these 90 homeless people." But in the search for housing for these displaced families, she was shocked by the poor state of the rental market in the area.
After the fire, community leaders joined together to form the Willapa Community Development Association. Through the City of Raymond a Community Development Block Grant was awarded through the WCDA to purchase the site, clean it up, and remove all the debris from the fire.
"We knew it was going to be a long-term project," said Westerman. "We just didn't know it was going to be this long." Through a history of attempting to raise money to develop the lot, the site was turned into a temporary park, but the group never gave up the idea of fixing the housing issues in Raymond.
The project was started again in 2017 after it was discovered that there was a deed restriction on the land since it was purchased with grant money. The restriction said that any development of the property had to benefit low to moderate income people. So the idea of an apartment building began to gain more traction.
The groundbreaking is just one step closer to accomplishing this goal. The center is planned to contain around 30 housing units, a preschool, and offices. District 19 Representatives Joel McEntire and Jim Walsh were among some of the leaders present.
"You live in a Garden of Eden," said McEntire. "You live in a gem. This place should be protected with its beautiful natural resources that should be enjoyed aesthetically, but also, used commercially. We have such a great place to live in."
"This project is a turning point for a better tomorrow, a better future," he continued. "Thank you for your hard work, dedication and devotion. This is not the end by any means, more good things are coming our way."
"This is a historic place and some of the history is great," said Walsh. "The fire was terrible. So what this project is doing is kind of punching through a lot of history to put in what everybody agrees is a good project. It's 30 maybe plus units, pretty nice design, and the preschool is kinda what seals the deal."
"It has been in development for decades, so we had to overcome that history, that baggage on the project," he said. "We did that so it is good. This project will produce an economic ripple effect, a positive ripple effect."
Raymond School District Superintendent Dr. Steve Holland talked about the benefits to solving child homelessness by supplying more area housing and the need for a proper preschool for 3 and 4 year-olds. Currently the school district is adapting space in the elementary building to fill this need, but this project will create a new space for them.
"This will allow us to put our kids in a state-of-the-art facility that meets all of the safety requirements and do the job right and for that we are extremely grateful," said Holland during his speech for the ceremony.
Others that gave a speech during the ceremony were Rebecca Chaffee - JPCHA Board Vice Chair and WCDA Boardmember, Max Benson - Developer with Community Frameworks, Ann Campbell - Resource Allocation and Lending Manager with the Department of Commerce, and Tony Nordin - Raymond Mayor.
The next step after this ceremony is the actual start of construction. "They are going to have to level it [the lot]," said Developing Consultant with Community Frameworks Max Benson. "They are going to tear it down, about a foot on average. Then we have to build it back up and get it above the city floodplain." So expect large equipment moving around on Third St. this summer.
This project was supported and funded by:
Washington State Department of Commerce
- Housing Trust Fund
- Early Learning Facilities Program
- Building Communities Program
- Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
Washington State Legislature
- Direct Appropriation Sponsor-Representative Joel McIntire
Federal Home Loan Bank
- Sponsored by Bank of the Pacific
Pacific County
Enterprise Community Partners
Partners for the Willapa Center Project include:
Housing Opportunities for Southwest Washington - Developer and Property Manager
Community Frameworks - Developer
Tonkin Architecture - Architect Timothy Quinn
Tapani Inc - Contractor
Impact Capital - Development Financing
Willapa Center Development Association - Donation of Land
Raymond School District - Early Childhood Education Assistance Program