by Richard Uhlhorn
“This project is going to change lives,” Ben Williams, Seven Acres Foundation board president, told donors who toured the Community Center project on Saturday afternoon. “It will impact the entire community.”
What currently looks like a giant erector set will end up becoming Chelan’s new Community Center.
On Saturday, April 15, the Seven Acres Foundation hosted VIPs who have been extremely generous with their donations for a private facility tour.
The Center has benefited financially from a $700,000 American Rescue Plan donation from the Chelan County Commissioners. Commissioner Tiffany Gearing was present for the tour as well as Raquel Crowley representing Senator Murray’s office. The Center received a $900,000 grant from a 2022 $1.5 Trillion dollar bipartisan, omnibus spending package backed by Senator Murray for rural communities.
What began as a 26,000 square foot building has grown to 46,000 sq. feet which includes an 10,000 sq. ft. auditorium/gymnasium that combines a variety of court configurations from a full-sized basketball court, two practice courts or three volleyball courts, four indoor pickleball courts and a community meeting space with a stage. The auditorium has a potential to host up to 1,400 people for conferences and/or large events.
The Center’s entry will have a coffee shop, quiet mother’s room, play room and restrooms surrounding the lobby area. There will be a multi-purpose event room and commercial kitchen on the main level building one. The multi-purpose room will have three large roll-up doors that give patrons indoor/outdoor access for up to 146 people depending on the event. The coffee shop will also have access to outdoor seating areas.
The multipurpose room and commercial kitchen along with the coffeeshop, mother’s quiet room and playroom will be available to patrons at both indoor and outdoor seating areas.
The commercial kitchen will be available for events and/or for rent to individuals needing commercial kitchen space.
Executive Director Ray Evans and Director of Operations Maribel Cruz are at the forefront of getting information out to the public about the Center’s operations. Center – Attendees got a tour through the office spaces that will be available for use.
The Center also has nine office spaces which will be for lease, a workspace center with six to eight workstations, a conference room and six multi-purpose rooms with the capacity to host 30 to 60 people. These rooms can also be combined into one large room.
There is a large upstairs space that can also be used for a variety of events.
Brooke Issac introduced the VIPs and said she likes the definition of patrons as people who give financial support to others. “You are all patrons that are very important to our mission, vision and success,'” she said.
Williams told those in attendance that currently the Foundation has at least $1.2 million in the ‘likely to fund’ category. There is a current shortfall of $4.5 million dollars which, when raised, will be used to complete the gym, parking lot, retaining walls, landscaping and electric car charging stations. He appealed to their largeness by asking how big their imagination is for what is possible. “Is there more that you can do to wrap even more love around these walls,” he asked.
everyone attending posed for a photograph
At the end of the tour, everyone toasted the progress to date. The facility is about 60 percent completed and expected to be finished this fall.
The mission of the Community Center at Lake Chelan is to connect people with the resources they need and with each other in order to enhance the quality of life in the Lake Chelan Valley and surrounding communities.
Individuals, organizations and businesses can donate by visiting the Center’s website at: http://www.ccatlakechelan.org. If you have questions, contact maribel@ccatlakechelan.org.
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