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President
Bush sleeps through Super Bowl half-time, misses Janet
Jackson's breast exposure, AP
Clark
County Historical Museum making major effort to attract
financial support--Columbian, Dean
Baker
Program
helps SWAY young drug, alcohol offenders--Columbian, Tom
Vogt
Home
Schoolers' program helps prime kids for science
success--Columbian, Gregg Sherrard
Blesch
C-TRAN
fears budget wreck--Oregonian, Bill
Stewart
C-TRAN
financing--Oregonian, Bill Stewart
Poll:
Bush approval hits new low--USA TODAY
Arch Miller takes lead
in bringing
Vancouver Barracks back to
life
Today is Groundhog Day,
but the shadow getting the most attention at the Fort
Vancouver National Historic Reserve is the one that was cast
by Vancouver entrepreneur Arch Miller, who disclosed
plans for putting life—and money—into moribund west
Vancouver Barracks.
Miller’s plans, which
have gained initial approval from the Historic Reserve, the
City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Area Development Authority
and the National Park Service, call for a strategic
combination of hospitality related to open up the barracks
area for public use.
At a news conference
Monday in the O.O. Howard House, Miller announced, among
other things:
Re-opening the Grant House Restaurant in April under the
name Commanders Restaurant.
Opening
a private executive club on the second floor of the
Grant House in May, to be known as The Club at the Historic
Reserve.
Opening
the Red Cross Building for public use and events in
June.
Offering culinary and restaurant classes and opening a
bakery in July.
Miller is taking the lead in a public-private
partnership at the reserve, with an expansion of the
International Air Academy, which he founded in 1979, to
include a culinary arts program, a restaurant management
program and a hospitality and hotel management program.
The Air Academy’s initial
investment is $1.2 million, all of which will be spent on
physical improvements.
According to Miller, who
is also founder of the Bank of Clark County and a Port of
Vancouver commissioner, the reason the plan will work is
because that in the sum its parts, each complements one or
more of the other elements in the plan.
Miller stated, “The City
of Vancouver’s acquisition of the West Barracks resulted in
our recognizing that our expansion plans fit perfectly with
this historic and scenic area.”
Miller’s plan will occupy
about 75,000 square feet of the West Barracks, about a third
of the total to be developed for public use.
The seven
non-commissioned officers duplexes will be developed as a
14-unit inn, the Inn at the Historic Reserve, with a
capacity of 84 guests. A reception area and gift shop will
be located at the north end of the Red Cross Building.
The Air Academy will
lease the entire Red Cross Building, using the lower floor
for classrooms for restaurant management and hospitality
management courses.
The community room on the
main floor, which will seat 150 persons, will be named the
E. B. Hamilton Hall, honoring a long-time volunteer, who
during World War I, helped care for convalescing soldiers.
To be furnished in the 1917-18 style, Hamilton Hall will
seat 150 persons.
The Air Academy will
lease the Infantry Barracks Building, which will be operated
as a 36-guest Elder Hostel, in cooperation with Clark
College’s Mature Learning program and Elderhostel
International. That operation is expected to be in operation
by mid-2005.
Jennifer Peterson’s Carnelian Rose Tea Company
will sub-lease the Quartermaster Building. Peterson will
teach finer points of etiquette.
In all, Miller’s plan
will bring eight new businesses to the Historic
Reserve.
Airline classes will be
taught at the International Air Academy at Grand and Mill
Plain Boulevards, which hospitality related courses will be
taught at the Historic Reserve.
The Club at the Historic
Reserve will not be a part of International Air Academy and
will be governed by a 30-member board of directors. It will
be managed by Hello World Travel’s Bob Woodard. For further
information on club membership, call Woodard at 695-2500.
News
briefs
The Vancouver City
Council meets in workshop session at 4 p.m. today and then
convenes at 7 p.m. for a regular council session. --- Clark Public Utilities’
commissioners meet in a workshop session at 9 a.m.
Tuesday.--- Clark County commissioners, meeting at 10
a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, will take further testimony regarding
the update of the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan.
nnn The Vancouver Planning Commission’s informal
presentation on city revenues is at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3,
in City Hall. --- A
free forum addressing childhood obesity for parents is at 7
p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, in the Kaiser Permanente Salmon Creek
Medical office, 14406 NE 20th Avenue. To register, call
toll-free, (877)
274-0824.
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