The welcome was warm at the Cobalt Building Open House last week, in spite of the frigid temperatures during two of the three events hosted by the Creswell Recreation Advisory Committee (CRAC) with partners Willamalane Park and Recreation District and the Creswell School District.
Area residents were offered cookies and coffee as they perused the empty rooms of the vacant building last Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, talking amongst themselves about their hopes and dreams for the unformed recreation and community service space.
The Cobalt Building has been an open-ended question for the City of Creswell since the mid-2000s, when the 9,000 square foot, light-industrial building on a 1.2 acre lot was donated to the city by local developer, Ross Murry, as part of a parks and open space requirement associated with the nearby residential development.
Located a short distance northeast of the high school at 364 Cobalt Lane, the former torque converter reclamation facility has been the subject site of several events designed to get public input, including an open house and the completion of a feasibility study in 2008-2009 to provide initial assessment and a conceptual plan with an emphasis on the values and needs of all age groups and the 2011 development of a Capital Campaign.
Members of the CRAC team and Steve Dobrinich, Creswell’s Resource Assistance to Rural Environments (RARE) intern, coordinated the Open House, ensuring that everyone had ample opportunity to explore and discuss the community center.
Acting as hosts for the Open House events, representatives of the Creswell Recreation Advisory Committee, Willamalane, the school district and the city were on hand to greet the approximate 75 individuals that traipsed through.
Sophomore Dylan Hubbard, a school district representative and Creswell High School Kiwanis Key Club Member, also assisted with hosting duties at all three events and made a point to communicate the hope of Creswell’s young people: they want to be invested in by their city, and they want to contribute.
Hubbard talked excitedly with visitors about future classes, games and activities at the Cobalt Building, indicating that he understood it might take some time to get the building into shape but that he was eager to play a role in developing a recreation center for Creswell.
Beth Levine, Willamalane Program Manager, met with Creswell residents at Tuesday night’s event, speaking with families and individuals as they toured the building. Levine said that Willamalane sees the Cobalt Building as “…an opportunity to extend community services down to Creswell… and to provide the value of recreation to the community.”
“We all have to start somewhere,” Levine said in support of Creswell’s current efforts to utilize the Cobalt Building. She went on to discuss recent recreational successes in Creswell in which Willamalane played a part: the Movies in the Park summer series for everyone, partnering with the school district on the Summer Fun Program for school kids, and last fall’s Creative Movement Class. The class’ performance at the 2012 Tree Lighting Ceremony is remembered as a highlight of the evening, with the audience delighted by the dancing of grade-schoolers.
The South Lane Family Relief Nursery also had a table at the Open House event. Perla Trujillo, Latino Services and Outreach Specialist, Heather Murphy, Executive Director, and Erin Helgren, Northern Douglas County Teacher/Interventionist, hosted the Nursery’s table in hopes of increasing support and awareness of the efforts to establish a Creswell Family Relief Nursery satellite facility.
Murphy likes the idea of the Cobalt Building and Relief Nursery partnership. “The Cobalt Building has tremendous potential for organizations supporting youth and young families,” said Murphy as CRAC members and other community representatives mingled throughout the building.
CRAC member Christopher (“Doogie”) Douglass utilized past Ford Foundation training, utilizing two walls for compiling public input. One wall was dedicated to the “Appreciative Inquiry” practice of identifying past accomplishments (and subsequently appreciating the ability to accomplish goals) when embarking on long-term projects.
Items listed on the Appreciative Inquiry wall included blood drives (Creswell has repeatedly broken its own blood drive records in the recent past), the playground equipment in Harry Holt Memorial Park, the Community Sharing office hours at the Community Center, the Fourth of July Celebration, the Tree Lighting Ceremony, the new Middle School, the new overpass and Harvey Road improvements, the new Library, City Hall building and water treatment plant, improvements at Garden Lake Park, our airport, new murals, and the Creswell Food Pantry.
One of the options under consideration for the Cobalt Building is the use of a portion of the Cobalt Building for the Creswell Family Relief Nursery satellite facility. A large room on the northern portion of the building is being discussed for conversion to the nursery facility, and this room includes access to a covered outdoor area and the Cobalt Building’s generous backyard that is bounded on three sides by fenced residential yards.
At last week’s open house events, attendees were encouraged to list activities they would like to see encouraged at the future Community Center. Listed were ping pong, a Senior Center during weekdays, a woodworking class, pickle ball in a gym, health and healing classes (including yoga), folk dancing, basketball, teen dances, karaoke, knitting classes, art exhibits, foosball, pool and air hockey tables, pottery classes and kilns, sewing classes and a rock climbing wall.
A list started on this board with young kids in mind also included 4-H classes, Girl and Boy Scouts, play groups, gymnastics, music and science classes and other activities.
The committee’s next goals likely will focus on preparing a set of recommendations to present to the City Council in the near future, including updated costs estimates, a tour of the Willamalane facility for community members and a list of desired activities harvested during the open house.
A sign-up list at the Open House gathered email addresses to be used for postings and updates on news regarding the Cobalt Building project (email Dobrinich to get on the list).
Input is always welcomed, and interested parties are encouraged to find the City of Creswell on Facebook to view Cobalt Building-related videos on the City of Creswell website (www.ci.creswell.or.us), or to contact Steve Dobrinich, Creswell’s Resource Assistance to Rural Environments (RARE) intern, at 541-895-2531 or sdobrinich@creswell-or.us.
Originally published in The Creswell Chronicle
PO Box 428
Creswell, OR 97426
Phone: 541-895-2197 Fax: 541-895-2361