Fort Worden
January 16, 2025
The City recognizes that Fort Worden Hospitality's decision this week to close was a difficult one, and expresses sadness and gratitude for the talented staff at Fort Worden Hospitality who provided the community and our visitors with many years of service. Alongside partners like Washington State Parks, Centrum, and the other organizations that call Fort Worden home, the City is participating in planning a transition and next steps. We appreciate the community's patience throughout this complex legal process. Given this complexity, it is especially important that all those involved continue to work collaboratively and with the best interests of the community and region in mind, focused on building a stable and vibrant Fort Worden which has served as a beloved gathering place throughout its rich history.
Updates to services at Fort Worden will be provided by Washington State Parks here: https://parks.wa.gov/find-parks/state-parks/fort-worden-historical-state-park
Background: the Fort Worden Lifelong Learning Public Development Authority (PDA)
Fort Worden is well-loved by residents and visitors alike with its stunning natural surroundings, unique history and historic buildings and structures, vibrant events and programming and quality accommodation. Fort Worden is a national historic landmark encompassing 434 acres with more than one hundred historic structures, including the coastal defense batteries and the Point Wilson Lighthouse. Additionally, the Fort has over 11 miles of hiking and biking trails, 120 feet of dock space, tennis courts, campgrounds, and two miles of salt water shoreline.
A number of partner organizations add to the lifelong learning center mission. These partners contribute art, music, poetry, fitness, wellness, history, science, and other programs and activities that make the lifelong learning center possible.
Issue in Brief
The Fort Worden Lifelong Learning Center Public Development Authority (FWPDA) was originally chartered by the City in 2009 and then reorganized in 2011 “to provide an independent legal entity to manage, promote, develop, secure funding and enhance Fort Worden State Park.” As an independent legal entity, it works in partnership with Washington State Parks through a Master Lease agreement (2013) to operate and manage the properties within the 90-acre main campus. Through this arrangement, the FWPDA provided property management and hospitality functions until 2022 when fundraising and hospitality functions were split out into separate entities (Fort Worden Foundation and Fort Worden Hospitality, respectively). A number of partner organizations, as tenants to the FWPDA, contribute to the lifelong learning center mission as well as to the vitality of the Port Townsend community and region.
Many are listed here: https://fortworden.org/our-story__trashed/onsite-programs/.
A more detailed historical overview, although still a summary, is provided in the recent Strategic Plan and Economic Impact Study developed in 2024 and available in linked PDFs below.
Recent City Involvement
The City has respected the independence of the FWPDA to operate the campus and to manage their financial affairs but has played an increasingly important role in providing financial oversight over the past 3-4 years. For instance, in 2021, the City Council adopted changes to the Port Townsend Municipal Code (PTMC 2.80 and 2.84) with a focus on enabling greater financial transparency and solvency, therefore also bolstering public confidence in the fiscal management of the State Park’s asset. These actions established a financial reporting structure and timeline, including quarterly and annual reporting, budget oversight, ongoing financial planning, and a City Council liaison as part of the FWPDA Board.
In 2022, the City endeavored, often unsuccessfully, to participate in and understand a range of operational changes made by the FWPDA, including the splitting off of hospitality and fundraising functions as well as the development of various lease agreements between the FWPDA and partners and consolidation of debt.
In 2023, with growing concerns raised through the City’s financial oversight role and using the new mechanisms available to it through the code changes agreed by City Council in 2021, the City initiated and drafted a corrective action plan for the FWPDA. This plan shifted format to become a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU; Attachment A) between the FWPDA, the City, and State Parks that was approached and drafted more collaboratively. The main purposes of the MOU were to identify issues of mutual concern and work toward desired outcomes and changes required to achieve the outcomes with specific actions, metrics, and accountabilities. The MOU has helped guide further work and discussion, with many items completed and in progress. That said, the resignation of the FWPDA Executive Director before the MOU was executed and turnover of key finance and administrative staff at the FWPDA contributed to lack of progress. A new interim Executive Director and new PDA board members have been highly instrumental in delivering on a cogent and concise strategic planning process and in daylighting the financial realities. This helped progress an Interlocal Agreement for the City to provide, upon request, a variety of operational, utility, and public meeting services at cost; it allowed for better coordination on the FWPDA making utility payments despite cash flow difficulties; and it helped spark an opportunity for City/Lodging Tax support for an Economic Impact Study that was sewn into the strategic plan.
A highly useful summary of these largely structural issues and constraints (as well as key recommendations) are articulated in the recently adopted strategic plan, here: https://fwpda.gov/DocumentCenter/View/407/Fort-Worden-Strategic-Plan-723....
Anticipating this, the asset owner and Master Lease holder, Washington State Parks, has been actively engaged and collaborating with the PDA, the City, Fort Worden Hospitality, and campus partners to minimize local disruptions and impacts while planning to take over for the FWPDA and play a more operational role at Fort Worden. This has been explored in depth by a recently-established working group with nonelected leadership from State Parks, the FWPDA, Fort Worden Hospitality, Centrum (representing the partner organizations), and the City. This group has been meeting regularly to consider options, tradeoffs, and a viable path forward. Future decision-making requires the involvement of governing bodies of all working group participants, including the Washington State Parks Commission, the FWPDA board, and City Council.
