Jefferson County commissioners approved a $150,000 forgivable loan to the Fort Worden Public Development Authority that will be used to explore what’s needed to renovate an old barracks building into dorm-style housing for workers at the fort.

Commissioners had originally approved a $150,000 grant for the same project in 2019, but the PDA never used the grant and it expired.

While the original $150,000 request was approved as a grant two years ago, Fort Worden PDA executive director David Timmons has since asked that it be awarded again in the form of a forgivable loan, which would converted to a grant if the organization could meet certain financing goals.

The funding will be used for a complete review of Building 203  to map out renovation needs. The 10-year loan would be structured to have deferred interest for the first three years, with payments on the interest and principal paid out over the remaining seven years of the project, if the PDA eventually decides not to pursue the renovations.

If the project is funded in the first three years, the loan would be forgiven. 

The renovations would provide sleeping areas on the first floor for 32 to 64 seasonal employees and students, and up to 100 beds on the second floor that would be used for large group activities that Centrum and other entities hold on the fort.

The PDA plans to get historic tax credits, like those used for the Makers Square project, to pay for the renovation.

Renovations of the building are currently estimated at $9 million, with a third coming from tax credits, according to Timmons.

The 19,344-square-foot century-old barracks has 32 bedrooms and a
136-person sleeping capacity. The interior was previously converted to a juvenile treatment facility in the 1960s, but the electrical, plumbing, and heating systems are outdated.

The county’s Public Infrastructure Fund Board met earlier this month to review the funding request and recommended approval of the loan.

The loan request did draw some concern before it was approved by commissioners Monday.

Tom Thiersch said the Fort Worden PDA — which has hovered on the brink of financial ruin since last year due to declining revenues amid the COVID-19 pandemic and debt brought on by the shifting of money meant for construction projects to the costs day-to-day operations — should not be given any public money until the PDA gets its financial house in order.

The PDA is currently under audit by the State Auditor’s Office, and results of a fraud investigation have yet to be released publicly.

“If you give them a loan do you really think they are going to repay it?” Thiersch asked commissioners. “The PDA, as far as I’m concerned, deserves nothing in terms of public funding until they pass a clean audit.” 

“That organization — it’s a poster child for misfeasance, malfeasance, misappropriation of public funds,” he said. 

“That place is a mess. It does not deserve any support from public funds until they get their finances straightened out.

“There better be some serious repercussions for the people who screwed that place up; the board and everybody else that’s responsible for making decisions about it,” he added.

Thiersch urged the board to reject the request for a public infrastructure loan.

“It’s just the wrong thing to do at this point in time,” he said. 

After additional discussion on the loan request, commissioners voted to approve the loan.

“I commend them for taking this on,” Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour said of the renovation project.