Millions of people drive through Aberdeen every year on their way to the coast and the Olympic Mountains.
That’s a lot of untapped potential passing through Grays Harbor County, so local officials want to build an enterprise center to attract new people — especially business owners — to the area, as well as provide information to tourists.
The $8.5 million project, called Grays Harbor Gateway Center, is slated for a prominent site near the Wishkah River bridge, at the corner of East Wishkah Street and Fuller Way. People traveling west on U.S. 12 will pass the center to get into the city and to the coast.
The city of Aberdeen is guiding the project. The city owns the vacant site, where a gas station and commercial buildings once stood.
Aberdeen Mayor Erik Larson wrote in an email that the 20,000-square-foot center will focus on economic development. The main tenant will be Greater Grays Harbor Inc., which is the regional chamber of commerce.
The center will consolidate all the agencies involved in economic development for the area under a single roof, with additional space for community meetings and special events.
Bainbridge Island-based Coates Design Architects worked with local citizens to develop the concept. The final design points to the area’s future while embracing its roots in the timber industry.
Coates says the design was inspired by the area’s historic lumber drying structures, but it will have a modern open concept and include cross-laminated timber.
Full article found at:
“Grays Harbor County spending $8M on new center to attract businesses,” Seattle Daily Journal, April 3, 2018.