(Photo by Peter de Lory)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Highland Park Improvement Club is edging ever-closer to rebuilding its headquarters, after 2021’s devastating fire.

Until then, HPIC leaders, members, and supporters are gathering in other venues – like the wreathmaking meetup at Highland Park Corner Store today (photo above), and online, which was the venue for this past Wednesday’s town hall. Here’s what we heard:

As HPIC moves into the future, it’s rebuilding in a different way too – it’s attracted new board members; more than half the board is new, it was noted near the start of the town hall. And it’s been a momentous year, as documented in this video shown after the board members’ introductions:

More milestones in the rebuild were part of it, of course, including demolition of what remained of the fire-gutted old HPIC building. Kay Kirkpatrick recapped everything else that happened this year, including hiring a general contractor.

(October photo courtesy Kay Kirkpatrick)

Now that the building’s down to the foundation, it’s time for work on the side sewer before the demolition preview can be “closed out”; then comes “civil work … where people dig around and look for plumbing lines, things like that.” Then it’s time to work on other phases:

How they move through those phases, Kirkpatrick said, depends on how funding goes. In response to a question, she said, no, the shell won’t be usable, they’ll have to get the new building to a stage where they get a occupancy permit. But they do hope to use the site as much as possible (only half of it will be fenced off for the project).

Not yet, though – so they were at Highland Park Corner Store for today’s Wreath-Making Meetup, and they’ll be moving through the neighborhood for the Not-So-Silent-Night Parade on New Year’s Eve. (Volunteers appreciated!)

(WSB photo, New Year’s Eve 2022)

Now back to the topic of fundraising. They have two needs – operations, and the rebuilding project. So far they have $1.75 million for the latter; they hope to get business sponsors and “major donors” to help cover the rest of what they need. They’re wrapping up work on fundraising strategy and planning a capital campaign. They will need to “re-introduce” themselves to the community to build connections – fundraising@hpic1919.org if you can help and/or have ideas.

For HPIC operations, they are working on a business model, though the organization is nonprofit.

The priority will be “welcoming and meaningful and barrier-free arts, culture, and social events.” supported by member and rental fees. To get more of a handle on pursuing those, they are studying who else is serving Highland Park in that space, in hopes of forming new partnerships (and confirming that their rental rates are competitive). If you’d like to help with the resource inventory, email galen.vanhorn@hpic1919.org.

How to get involved? There’s a link on the HPIC website. You also can follow HPIC on social media. You can become a member (with multiple levels of membership available). And/or be part of the “people power” they need from the neighborhood for all the different tasks that need to be handled. “Boosting awareness and engagement” are the focuses for 2025.

One question submitted before the town hall had to do with aircraft noise in the area. Kirkpatrick suggested that the person come to the HPAC meeting in January (fourth Wednesday, 7 pm, so January 22). Another question, sent in via chat: What about the construction timeline? Site prep is expected to go into mid-2025, but beyond that, it’s hard to say, funding-dependent – the next phase might take six to nine months IF full funding is found (at least $3 million total). Same for the “systems” phase – and then they hope to get the occupancy permit even if the building’s not quite complete. But they also recognize that there are a lot of questions regarding how costs might be affected if the next federal-government administration indeed imposes tariffs. They’ll be in close communications with their contractor, Metis (which had a representative at the meeting).

You can read about HPIC’s century-plus history here.