Friends Of The Roeder Home

November 12 news

We have heard from a usually reliable source that the County Parks headquarters out on the Mount Baker Highway has been sold for $750K. We're checking on this.

Word has it that there is plenty of office space downtown that already belongs to the County, including the former Hizzoner's space. It is not necessary for the parks administration to move into the Roeder Home.

November 11 news

The Bellingham City Council voted unanimously last night in favor of protecting the Roeder Home. They asked Louise Bjornson to write a letter on their behalf. Tell 'em, "Thank You!!!"

County Parks plans to convert the Roeder Home from a dedicated arts facility to the Whatcom County Parks administrative offices on the 2nd & 3rd floors, with some event rentals only on the main floor and in the basement. They intend to move in by this coming January. The holiday arts & crafts sale will be eliminated, along with parks sponsorship of concerts, classes, workshops and events. The public will lose access to an extraordinary historic building, an incubator for the local arts community, and the only county park within city limits.

Talking Points

Public Process
Withdrawal Of Resources
Only Historic Home Open
Deed Of Gift
Loss Of Income To Artists
Loss Of Classes & Programming
Loss Of Volunteers
Inflated Savings Projection
National Historic Registry
Caretakers Cottage
Importance Of Arts
What You Can Do

Contacts

As always, when you contact public officials, it is VERY important to be polite!!! Our job is to win people over, not to bully them.

Pete Kremen
County Council
City Council

Get In Touch With Us

PUBLIC PROCESS
So far, the County has not sought public comment on this plan. Hard financial times often require tough choices, but It's important that we speak up to let our decision makers know that there needs to be a public discussion about the choices being made -- and the possibility of finding other solutions.

WITHDRAWAL OF RESOURCES
At a time when Whatcom County is asking Bellingham to take as much infill as possible, the County should not simultaneously withdraw resources and amenities. Bellingham residents pay the same level of property taxes to support Whatcom County parks as do other residents of Whatcom County. Trails and general parks are not expected to "pay for themselves" through revenues. Why should the Roeder Home be different? We need public input on which County Parks facilities should deserve subsidies and which should pay for themselves.

ONLY HISTORIC HOME OPEN
The Roeder Home is the only local historic residence that is open to the public.

DEED OF GIFT
The deed of gift by which Mrs. Keyes gave the home to the County requires that it be used "exclusively for the use and enjoyment of the public for park purposes or for use as a museum or historical site or other similar public use." It further requires that the county return the building to the heirs if it is not used in this way. This change definitely goes against the spirit of the donation.
Here are links to scanned-in copied of the deed of gift as Adobe pdf files.
gift deed 1
gift deed 2

LOSS OF INCOME TO ARTISTS
The Holiday Arts & Crafts Sale brings around $50,000 each year in sales, so shutting it down would be a huge loss of income for local artists. In addition, the Home Made Music Society concerts audiences contribute another $5,000 - $8,000 at the door, plus CD sales.

LOSS OF CLASSES AND PROGRAMMING
Arts programming will be dropped in favor of "renting basement classrooms to individual teachers." We have been told this will let programs continue and that the public will see very little impact. At the same time, some teachers have been told they will be charged as much as $135 per evening in rent. Classes, workshops and groups cannot possibly continue there at such a cost.

LOSS OF VOLUNTEERS
Events like the Holiday Arts & Crafts Sale, Home Made Music Society concerts and music circles, and Whatcom In Bloom are County Parks programs that could not happen without lots of donated time by dedicated and knowledgeable community members: the programs have been subsidized by both the County and by the community. The dollars that the County spends on these programs are only a fraction of the real cost of putting them on. The way this is currently being handled -- let alone the decision itself -- will make that volunteer energy go away. The community will lose not only the programs, but long-term relationships and a spirit of collaboration which have taken decades to build.

INFLATED SAVINGS PROJECTION
They claim the County will save $153K per year by eliminating the arts program. This figure folds in operating and maintenance expenses for the building itself. Are they intending any maintenance for the building and grounds? There has been no request for community or city collaboration in preserving the building or the program.

NATIONAL HISTORIC REGISTRY
Because the Roeder Home is on the local and National Register of Historic Places, uses and changes to the Home come under the review of the Bellingham Historic Preservation Commission. Building modifications need to be permitted. What modifications would be made to the Home in the process of setting up Reception on the main floor? What holes in lovely old woodwork? What loss of period integrity? What damage will they do to the historic building in running cables, installing internal locks on office doors, or rolling office chairs around?

CARETAKERS COTTAGE
The county also owns the residence behind the Roeder Home. It might, more easily, be converted to offices, while leaving the Roeder Home intact. The garage has already been rewired for a conversion into heated classroom space, and could easily be turned into office space as well. On the other hand, none of the Roeder Home property is zoned for offices and their associated parking, and this may be a major issue in any conversion.

IMPORTANCE OF ARTS
A new, cost saving idea is always attractive to those who steward the public purse, yet a decision to remove the Roeder Home from public arts usage may, in the long term, short-change our community. Arts are one of the most important things that keep our communities vibrant and strong, and help our citizens connect with richness and spirit that are often unattainable in our daily lives. The arts define Bellingham as a unique community and the Roeder Home has been a key player in incubating our arts community, having been the original home to Allied Arts, the Kulshan Chorus, and the Home Made Music Society.

Council members may also be e-mailed as a group at council@co.whatcom.wa.us or individually at their e-mail addresses listed below. If you send your comments to the council members individually, also send a copy to the Council e-mail address so your comments are included in the official record. A paper letter backup is needed because of the overwhelming number of emails they receive. Your email will get there first, but your paper letter is certain to be read. Polite phone calls are great.

CITY COUNCIL
~~Let City Council members and mayor Pike know you would appreciate their help on this issue.~~City Council voted unanimously on November 10 to send a letter to the County Council asking them preserve the Roeder Home as is. They do not actually have any control on this issue, but they deserve our enthusiastic thanks for weighing in positively!

Friends Of The Roeder Home

We are a collection of people who use and love the Roeder Home. We don't have a membership list at this point. To volunteer, make donations, or comment on the content of this website, get in touch with:

To comment on typos, broken links, and web issues, contact the webmaster, Zeke Hoskin.