Rendering of exterior of proposed building

ACRC

Anacortes Community + Recreation Center

A community and recreation center where there's something for everyone, and every family.

We live and work in the beautiful island community of Anacortes. We're working to make indoor recreation, art, and social activities accessible to everyone.

What's in YOUR community center?

  • Climbing wall
  • Walking track
  • Bowling alley
  • Pickleball
  • Full-size gym
  • Art classes
  • Parks & Rec classes

What are your ideas? Tell us what you want to see:

Laurie Gere

”Our vision is to enrich the social, physical and emotional health, and recreational needs of the Anacortes community, especially our youth.“

—former mayor Laurie Gere (2014-2021)

In 2014, then-mayor Laurie Gere convened a broad-ranging community taskforce to discuss the problem of youth drug use in Anacortes. The taskforce identified a number of needs in our community, including a school resource officer, a drug dog, and a youth center—a place for youth to be active or hang out without being tempted by illegal drug use or other negative activities. Each of those needs have now been addressed except for the youth center.

Since that time, the community has identified property and two major donors for construction of a community and recreation center available to everyone—families, youth, seniors. Now with a conceptual design, preliminary support from the City Council, multiple community programming partners, and a motivated leadership and fundraising team, we just need YOUR support to make this project a reality.

We're currently looking for potential donors who may be willing to make major pledges. Please contact us for more information or to discuss a major pledge in support of the community center project. Sign up for email updates to stay in the loop as we move into later phases of fundraising.

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Why is a community center important?

A community center is important because community interactions are important for a strong town.

Nearly 25 years ago, the reknowned political scientist Robert Putnam published Bowling Alone, describing the decline of social capital in the United States since 1950. We know our neighbors less, meet with friends less frequently, and even socialize with our families less often. Putnam argues that this lack of social interaction undermines the active civic engagement which a strong democracy requires from its citizens.

Fact: joining and participating in one social group cuts in half your odds of dying in the next year.

The emblematic example of this phenomenon is bowling. Putnam noted that although the number of people who bowled had increased in the previous 20 years, the number of people who bowled in leagues had decreased. If people bowled alone, they did not participate in the social interaction and civic discussions that might occur in a league environment.

Site Plan

The proposed facility will be located on donated property south of the skate park on R Ave. Our conceptual design includes two floors totaling 25–30,000 sq ft with outdoor athletic courts and green space, centrally located on bus line and along the Tommy Thompson Trail.

  • 01Recently rebuilt city skate/bike park (existing)
  • 02Large court
  • 03Small court
  • 04Parking lot (62 stalls)
  • 05ADA parking (4 stalls)
  • 06Pedestrian connection to crosswalk
  • 07Vehicular access to athletic storage room
  • 08Multipurpose lawn
  • 09Playground
  • 10Fire access lane (aligned with 29th St)

What the proposed facility is not:

  • A Public Pool. Fidalgo Pool & Fitness Center is pursuing a replacement for their existing pool on their existing site. Estimated cost: $25-50 million.
  • An Events Center. AC+RC would have meeting spaces, but it wouldn't focus on public events. The Port and City are pursuing an event venue for large community events. Estimated cost: $10 million.
Site plan

Funding

The generosity of two major donors has given us a head start on this project!

Now we need your support to bring the project to a reality. We're currently seeking to fund construction 100% privately, both to keep construction costs low and allow construction in the near term.

property

donation from
Merlino Properties

$10 million

in two founding pledges

$15 million

to be raised from YOUR gifts and donations

$25 million

project budget
make — a — pledge

Contact us for more information or to discuss a major pledge in support of the community center project.

 info@anacortescommunity.org
 www.anacortescommunity.org