Current Projects
We finished building our new front porch, exterior stairs and upper deck in summer 2023.
We also completed phase 1 of our landscape restoration process and anticipate completing phase 2 in spring 2024.
Our current goal is to replace our obsolete and failing electrical panels in 2024 with community support. These panels have been in the building for over 70 years, and there are no longer available replacement parts. The Healing Arts Center (at the time a private home) was one of the first buildings on Orcas Island to receive electricity from OPALCO.
Demo Day to Get the Deck Replacement Project Underway
On Saturday August 13th, 2022, 12 volunteers, mostly practitioner members of the Healing Arts Center, worked safely, efficiently, cooperatively, and professionally to get the job done. Special thanks goes out to Antonio Zapeta and Paul Groeninger, 2 volunteer contractors who showed up with their professional expertise and great attitude to lead us along with their many hours of experience. We almost forgot a massage table but we pulled it off in the end with some ladder skills and teamwork. A big shout out to David and Lee at Brown Bear Baking Company who provided us with an assortment of amazing breakfast pastries. A warm thank you for the continued support from the Orcas Island Food Coop who donated bottomless coffee, fresh fruit, and snacks. After the top deck was taken down, sledge hammers were pounding, and the tummies were beginning to growl, Libi Geddess of the Coop brought trays of hot pizza at just the right moment.
The work continued into the afternoon as the demolition was very methodically managed and priority was given to salvaging a lot of interior lumber. We discovered a roof that was concealed for over 30 years by a 12 inch cedar plank drop ceiling, revealing the Healing Arts Center building’s original paint when the nonprofit bought the building in 1988. The tongue-and-groove ceiling came off completely intact, and we plan to use it to build a meditation platform near our front garden. The change to our building is dramatic, even if your first reaction is “what’s different?” Such is the nature of change. It’s hard to instigate, but we get used to it very quickly.
Redoing the Foundation
Summer 2022, the Healing Arts Center completed construction of its structural foundation project that began in 2020. While masterfully built in 1904, the farmhouse was nonetheless built on a flat beach rock and old growth cedar stump foundation; shored up by pier blocks, and post and beams over time. Due to the location of the remaining foundation section yet completed, it becomes necessary to remove a 50 square-foot section of the building, as well as replace our exterior porch and stairs that provide access to the second floor of the building. The old section will be permanently removed while the porch and stairs will be replaced to match the existing footprint. The demolition section and replacement of the second-story porch are functionally tied to the construction of the foundation.
After 6 years of planning, engineering, fund raising and construction, the completion of our buildings’ foundation will offer a tremendous sense of relief, and along with it, a renewed sense of mission for the Healing Arts Center. The project will provide a sound and stable foundation, while preserving our unique connection to the community and architectural aesthetic of Eastsound. Beyond metaphor; a well-built, long lasting foundation is key to our organizations’ footing into the future. With fewer houses existing in town from this turn of the previous century era, our unique home is an asset to the community and the islanders that we serve.
Silver Lining During the Pandemic
There's no doubt about it, 2020 was the most challenging year for the Healing Arts Center in our 32 years as a non-profit. Times have been tough for us at different points in our history, but never have we had to close down the Center before. We closed in mid-March and remained closed through mid-August. Many of our practitioners went on unemployment; some of our elders went into a premature retirement. During this extremely difficult ordeal, the Healing Arts Center board voted to forgive all rent payments and fees normally due during that time. In a crisis such as it was, it was the right thing to do.
As is so often the case, with the challenge came opportunity. In 2019, we had just completed the 5-year fundraising and savings effort to restore and rebuild the structural foundation of the building. We also raised money and received rebates and incentives for 6 new energy-efficient windows to replace single-pane windows, and completed funding for a new electric heat pump. With the building closed or being minimally used, it turned out to be great timing to achieve these long-awaited and important goals for our 1904 building.
