Recent $10,000 Donation Toward Community Asset

The Center for Local Self-Reliance, a Bellingham non-profit organization, received a $10,000 donation toward its renovation project of the Caretaker’s House in Fairhaven Park.
“We are on our way,” said the organization’s secretary, Mary Mullen.
Mullen said a generous South Side resident donated the money anonymously on April 16. She said the organization’s goals for this year will cost about $37,000 but it is difficult to estimate the cost of the whole project since it is constantly evolving.
Steve Wilson, president of the organization, said the house has been falling apart and vandalized since the last caretaker, Loren Iversen, lived there in 1988. Wilson said the organization has been planning this project ever since it turned in their proposal to the Bellingham City Council in 2008.
With continued community support, Wilson said the house and grounds could be open to the public by spring 2012, but not completely finished.

Caretaker’s Gardens reestablishment

Mullen said another part of the project is reestablishing the Caretaker’s Gardens. She said fungus in the soil and deer grazing are the main reasons the Rose Garden was closed in 1999.
Eighty-five-year-old Iversen said he and his wife Kathleen lived in the Caretaker’s House for 15 years and took care of the Rose Garden and Fairhaven Park.
“I would just have my wife chase the deer away,” he said.
Iversen said he is disappointed “his” roses are gone and that nobody has been living in the house to take care of the park.
Happy Valley resident Gordy Tweit, 83, said he heard about the project by word of mouth and he is happy to see it happening. He said it was too bad when the Rose Garden was closed because many weddings were held there and in the gazebo.
“It was such a beautiful site to have a wedding on a summer day,” Tweit said.
Mullen said in 2008 the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department wanted the Caretaker’s House moved off site since it was such a liability for them. That summer, community members came together and created a proposal to keep the house on site. She said this is when the Center for Local Self-Reliance was formed, and the Bellingham City Council approved their proposal that September.
The organization’s website, www.caretakershouse.org, describes the additions and features of the reestablished gardens and restored house. For example, gathering and teaching spaces will be offered such as a commercial kitchen that will be used for canning and preserving food, medicinal plant preparation, and other domestic teaching.

Caretaker’s House renovation

Wilson said his group plans on putting a new roof on the house this summer, and Mullen said a fence around the whole perimeter should be installed late summer or early fall.
Other long-term construction goals of the Caretaker’s House include putting in a wheelchair ramp and bathroom that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, restoring the failed storm drain, updating the wiring and plumbing and painting the house, Wilson said.
He said the tricky part is the organization doesn’t have the money to turn the project over to a contractor so it is communicating with about 35 volunteers at the moment.
By renovating the Caretaker’s House and Gardens, Mullen said the organization will be able to provide a community venue and working example of alternative food choices.
Mullen said donations and grants like the one from the Whatcom Parks and Recreation Foundation will help the organization reach its goals. She said she hopes this project will be evolving and morphing for generations to come.