KELSO — The Kelso City Council has taken the next step in approving a new, three-story affordable housing and community space complex to be located where West Main Street bends and turns into Catlin. But the discussion about the details of the plan is just beginning.
More than 50 people attended the meeting Tuesday, nearly overflowing the council chambers. Most people talked about the various clubs and events held at the Sons of Norway building, located near the site of the proposed new building, and Catlin Hall, which houses the city’s senior center.
Last month the City Council reviewed plans for the new building that would include 12,000-square-feet on the ground floor to house the senior center and city library, and 40 low-income housing units above. To get enough space for the building and its parking, the city would need to purchase and possibly tear down the Sons of Norway building. Groups that meet at Catlin Hall might meet in the new community space instead.
The council voted 6-1 Tuesday to move ahead on the project by naming the Longview-based nonprofit Lower Columbia CAP as the project’s sponsor and agreeing to the general design of a building with apartments on the upper floors and the community space on the ground floor. Councilmembers said getting those details set now would allow CAP to immediately begin applying for funding for the estimated $18 million complex.
Councilman Jim Hill was the one dissenting vote. Hill told The Daily News in January he was stepping down from his seat, but attended Tuesday’s meeting.
Members of the Kiwanis of Kelso Longview, the R Square D Dance Club, the Cowlitz County Democratic Women, the Brookhollow Homeowners Association, and Columbia Artists spoke Tuesday about their use of Catlin Hall for meetings and larger events.
“If the City Council wasn’t aware of all the events their citizens are doing there, they got an education last night,” said Kathleen Johnson, a former Kelso City Council member and a leader for the Kelso Senior Center Association.
The Kelso Senior Center Association runs Catlin Hall as the city’s senior center, which it rents from Kelso for a negligible price. The association runs its own bingo nights and events at the hall and also rents the space out to the various other clubs and organizations that meet there.
Johnson said the association had questions about what the focus on a new center would mean for Catlin Hall’s future. The city has not addressed the hall’s future yet. Volunteers have done significant repairs to the interior of the building over the last decade while Kelso is responsible for the outer appearance.
City Manager Andy Hamilton said Tuesday night that the council budgeted $600,000 to work on the building’s siding and exterior this year. The library pays $4,500 per month to rent its space at Three Rivers Mall.
Tuesday’s resolution does not prevent the city from looking at other sites or uses for the ground floor, but finding a different location would not be easy. Kelso acquired the land north of the Sons of Norway building that would be the project’s main footprint in the West Main Street realignment. Any other location would almost certainly increase the project’s estimated budget.
“There’s not enough money to repurpose and investigate other sites. One thing that makes this project works is the fact that we own that site across the street from the Sons of Norway,” Kelso Community Development Director Michael Kardas said.
Nancy Harris is a former Sons of Norway president and a lifelong Kelso resident. Harris told the council that her grandparents helped purchase the current Sons of Norway building in the 1960s and her grandchildren are now involved with the organization. According to the county assessor’s site, the building was built in 1930.
“Five generations of my family have been committed to keeping the Sons of Norway and the building active and thriving to serve our community,” Harris said. “This building is the heart and soul of the Sons of Norway.”
