Town, public give input on development of town hall

Eight architects from a variety of firms in Oregon descended on Cathlamet Monday to gather input on possible development of Cathlamet's Town Hall and nearby facilities.

The architects spent the morning taking measurements and touring the buildings to see their uses and structure.

In the afternoon, they met with town council members and around 80 members of the public to discuss ideas and suggestions for use of the town hall, Pioneer Church and adjacent empty lots.

"It's exciting to me that we're in this stage of the process," said Mayor George Wehrfritz.

The building is undergoing construction to strengthen its structure. New shear walls have been installed, and officials say the building will now meet earthquake code requirements.

However, expansion of the library upstairs remains a work in progress, and Wehrfritz invited Architects Without Borders, Oregon, to volunteer to help design further upgrades.

In introducing the discussion process, team leader John Blumenthal urged people to consider ideas, uses and concepts and to not consider money. Let the ideas come; one can work at funding them later, he said.

After 2.5 hours of discussion, the group had many concepts and ideas regarding the four main segments of the project:

Library--People suggested moving the entrance to the entrance to the old firemen's quarters, which are on the same floor as the library. They suggested raising the ceiling into the attic and expanding the view windows at the front of the building. They suggested that more technology be added to the library's offerings.

Town hall office--Take out a stairway to create more spaces and add a counter for security and work area.

Lower level (formerly housing fire trucks)--Develop into an open space equipped for many uses by young and old citizens. Develop centers for games, relaxing, public information and technology.

Outdoors--Connect library and Pioneer Church. Develop covered, outdoor meeting area with performance stage. Expand parking, possibly constructing a parking garage.

Blumenthal said the eight architects will meet next week to go over their data and decide how they'll go about producing designs.

They'll bring their schemes to Cathlamet for comment by the public and then return home to develop them into a finished product.

Architects Without Borders, Oregon, is a group of architects who volunteer to help design projects in areas around the world.

Blumenthal said they have been involved in Indonesian tsunami recovery, Hurricane Katrina recovery, and in projects in Africa.