The expected dissolution early next month of the Public Development Authority that has been the longtime manager managed the Lifelong Learning Center on the campus of Fort Worden State Park raises a lot questions.

What happens next?   

Answering questions and talking about what the future might hold is the point of a public open house set for Sept. 26 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Fort Worden Commons, Room A, 200 Battery Way in Port Townsend. It’s organized by staff of Washington State Parks and Recreation Department, which is taking it over, and staff of the Fort Worden PDA, and others, who have recommended it be dissolved.

On August 1, the PDA Board of Directors, citing financial challenges, voted to request that the Port Townsend City Council dissolve the PDA. The Port Townsend City Council will vote on that request during its regular meeting on Oct. 7

Since the PDA board’s request for dissolution, staff with the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission have been working with the PDA and other partners to develop a long-term plan for the upper campus at Fort Worden State Park. Until the city council vote, the PDA remains the manager of the upper campus at the park.

If the city council approves dissolution, a series of processes will unfold leading to the state parks commission resuming total park management this fall.

According to state parks commission staff, after the initial transition, the parks commission will begin a collaborative planning process in early 2026 to determine what the future of the upper campus at Fort Worden State Park will look like. The goal, according to the parks commission, is to maintain continuity of operations while the long-term plan is developed.  

State parks commission staff say they will engage with the tribes separately to get an understanding of how they want to participate in future planning. 

Washington State Parks owns Fort Worden and in 2013 issued a 50-year lease to the PDA to manage and operate the 90-acre upper campus of the park.  The open house is the most recent action in a string of events spanning those years, during which time the Fort Worden PDA has struggled to make management of the Lifelong Learning Center economically viable.

Since its inception the PDA has experienced a series of financial challenges compounded by the pandemic. State parks commission stepped in to work with the PDA and other partners to evaluate and plan for the long-term sustainability of the site.  

The PDA hired PROS consulting to determine strategies to support Fort Worden State Park and its partners into the future.

As a result, and as a part of the PROS Strategic Plan, the PDA and State Parks convened a working group to develop a path forward for the upper campus at Fort Worden. The workgroup included PDA staff, state parks commission staff, staff with Fort Worden Hospitality, Centrum and the city of Port Townsend.

The PROS strategic plan issued in June 2024,“confirmed that the original and evolved business model as structured under the current State Parks lease is not viable.”

At the end of 2023, the report indicated that the PDA had little more than $300,000 cash on hand and about $6.2 million in debt. That debt is connected to a municipal revenue bond that was issued in 2022, which rolled up previous bonds from 2021. Those funds stem from the Maker’s Square project, which repurposed three buildings used during World War I and II into arts and education facilities and the glamping project, which was never finished. It remains unclear how the debt will be resolved.

After the initial transition, the state parks commission would begin a collaborative planning process in early 2026 to determine what the future of the upper campus at Fort Worden State Park will look like. State parks department officials say the goal is to maintain continuity of operations while the long-term plan is developed.  

In addition to Centrum, state parks officials say they will work with each of the current tenants to coordinate a transition that minimizes disruption on campus.  Those tenants include: Northwind Art, Peninsula College, Copper Canyon Press, Rainshadow Recording Studio, Port Townsend School of Woodworking, Madrona MindBody Institute and others.

The public hearing for PDA dissolution is scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 7 on the second floor of Port Townsend City Hall, 540 Water St., in council chambers.