Kulshan’s new brewery will be twice the size as its original location.
In response to growing consumer demand for its extensive line of award-winning ales and lagers, Kulshan Brewing Co. is excited to announce that it will be opening a second brewery on Kentucky Street in Bellingham this spring.
Affectionately nicknamed K2, the new brewery will feature a 30-barrel brewhouse (twice the size of the James Street brewhouse) and a brand-new canning line, plus a large taproom for visitors and offices for staff. The new brewery also will provide additional storage, including a massive walk-in cooler to keep the packaged beer fresh.
“We are very excited to be getting this new location off the ground,” says Kulshan founder David Vitt. “Once it’s completed, it will help us to keep up with local demand, as well as share our product with our neighbors in Seattle and beyond.” Kulshan’s Kentucky Street location will produce its flagship beers – Bastard Kat IPA, Good Ol’ Boy Pale Ale and Red Cap Irish Red Ale – allowing the James Street facility to create more seasonal, specialty and experimental beers.
Kulshan’s James Street brewery has a 15-barrel brewhouse, a tap room and an office within 4,000 square feet.
Kulshan’s Kentucky Street brewery has a 30-barrel brewhouse, a tap room and offices within 14,000 square feet.
In 2014, Kulshan brewed about 3,100 barrels of beer. Kulshan expects to brew about 6,000 barrels by the end of 2015, and it expects to brew about 12,000 barrels in 2016.
“Our new brewery and tap room is nothing short of breathtaking,” Vitt says. “We can’t wait to see the looks on people’s faces when they see the full-scale production brewery in operation coupled with the beautifully hand-crafted architecture in the tap room.”
K2 will have it’s Grand Opening Celebration June 13, 2015. Check out Kulshan’s website for details.
Registration continues for the 5th annual Chuckanut Writers Conference held Friday and Saturday, June 26 and 27, at Whatcom Community College (WCC). The conference, with the theme Inspiration into Action, is a joint venture between WCC’s Community and Continuing Education program and Village Books of Bellingham. This intensive craft-focused, cross-genre symposium is designed to inspire writers of all experience levels.
Now in its fifth year, the conference offers a range of workshops led by talented authors who are also distinguished writing teachers; meetings with respected agents and publishing consultants who will share industry insights and hear pitches; as well as author readings and book signings. The esteemed faculty includes Molly Wizenberg, voice behind the 2015 James Beard Award-winning blog Orangette and author of New York Times bestsellers “A Homemade Life” and “Delancey;” conference veteran Brian Doyle, editor of Portland, the University of Portland magazine; and keynote speakers Elizabeth George, 2012 Whatcom Reads author, and Kate Lebo, author of the cookbooks “A Commonplace Book of Pie” and “Pie School: Lessons in Fruit, Flour and Butter.”
This year the Chuckanut Writers Conference is also offering three pre-conference master classes the afternoon of Thursday, June 25. For an additional fee ($75 – $95), attendees will have the opportunity to work more closely with select conference faculty. Topics include book proposal secrets by Jennifer Worick and Kerry Colburn, co-founders of The Business of Books; Washington State’s inaugural Poet Laureate Sam Green’s exploration of how poetic frameworks can inspire new work; and writer Steven Galloway will look at the elements of theme, narrative, action, image, language and time in detail to see what purpose they serve in the creation of story.
The submission deadline for the 2015 Peaceful Poetry Youth Contest is October 2, 2015.
The Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center (WDRC) has officially opened the 2015 Peaceful Poetry Youth Contest.
Whatcom County students, K – 12, are invited to submit poems of 30 lines or less, exploring the myriad themes relating to peaceful conflict resolution. The submission deadline is October 2, 2015. More information, videos of past recipients, as well as electronic and printable submission forms can be found at whatcomdrc.org.
Judges will select poems based on creativity and connection to peaceful themes such as: resolving conflict, listening, tolerance, building peace, respect, anti-bullying. Winners will be honored at the 13th Annual Peace Builder Awards Gala, held November 20 and filmed reading their poem for BTV Channel 10, which will broadcast for a full year. The school with the most submissions will also receive special recognition.
This contest highlights the WDRC Youth Program, designed to empower young people to resolve conflict without aggression and build healthy relationships. Through specialized trainings and youth mediation services, the Youth Program directly served 694 Whatcom County youth in 2014.
For educators who are interested in submitting poems from a class or group, the WDRC has developed a free 30 minute curriculum. This short lesson includes an overview of poetry styles, a vocabulary brainstorm, and time for students to write and submit their poems. Educators are encouraged to contact youth@whatcomdrc.org for the free lesson plan.
The Light: Beyond the Bulb program illustrates how light-based science and technology have revolutionized the world through applications in medicine, communications, entertainment and culture.
Stunning images demonstrating the beauty and importance of light are on display at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal, 355 Harris Avenue, from June 1 through June 14, 2015.
“The Port of Bellingham is pleased to host this amazing exhibit” said Port Terminals Manager Dave Warter. “The eye-catching displays will be interesting to travelers passing through the Bellingham Cruise Terminal as well as to educators, students, individuals and community groups.”
The Light: Beyond the Bulb program illustrates how light-based science and technology have revolutionized the world through applications in medicine, communications, entertainment and culture. The exhibit is free of charge and is sponsored in part by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics (www.spie.org), which has its home headquarters in Bellingham. SPIE is an educational society serving nearly 264,000 constituents from approximately 166 countries.
“With eye-catching images and clear explanations, Light: Beyond the Bulb displays are extremely effective in illustrating how light-based technologies enhance and improve our lives,” said SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs. “Our goal is to reach beyond the scientific community and engage everyone, especially young people. We hope to spark interest in science and improve public awareness of photonics, the science of light – to inspire students looking for careers, inventors looking for technologies that can transition their ideas into reality, and people throughout the world looking for ways to solve problems as basic as clean-water systems and as creative as works of art.”
Images show technology that connects the world via broadband networks and the Internet with hair-thin flexible optical fibers of glass or plastic, explain the workings of the giant telescopes through which we see the distant universe and learn about its history, describe a recently discovered new class of eye photoreceptors used to form images, and even tell why bluebells are blue, Arthurs said.
The Bellingham Cruise Terminal is the southern connection for the Alaska Marine Highway System. San Juan Cruises, Schooner Zodiac and Gato Verde utilize the Terminal to provide whale watching and cruising adventures through the San Juan Islands. Dining options are available from Streat Food Café 8-5:30 pm on Friday and 8:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. An assortment of Pacific Northwest themed gifts is also available from Inside Passage Gifts.
Twenty-three-year old Lizzi Jackson will compete for the title of Miss Washington July 2 and 3.
Twenty-three-year old Lizzi Jackson will compete for the title of Miss Washington July 2 and 3 at Highline Performing Arts Center. Jackson won the title of Miss Rainier this past March.
Lizzi graduated Western Washington University June of 2014, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and Management Information Systems. She will be competing with her good friend and Miss Whatcom County 2015 Kimberly Wolfe. “I am extremely blessed to be sharing this experience with Kimberly. What people don’t typically see in televised pageants are the true bonds we [titleholders] make when competing together. No one else knows the preparation that goes into this better than your fellow pageant sister.” Jackson says.
Jackson plans to change the game of pageants as Miss Washington. “What is more relevant or exciting than an empowered woman? I want to change the perception people have of what a ‘pageant girl’ is. For one thing, we aren’t girls. Titleholders are driven, selfless, professional young women, we just happen to have crowns on our heads. I want to show Washington a whole new outlook on what we do.”
Jackson’s platform is ‘Community through Mentorship: Investing in Our Future’, and for the past 6 years she has been working to spread awareness of mentoring in Washington State. She is partnered with Compass 2 Campus, a service-learning program run through Western Washington University, and travels to different classrooms teaching young students about the importance of education, and the benefits of mentorship. “Every student has the potential to leave an impact on this world; it’s our job as mentors to help them realize that.”
Tickets for Miss Washington just went on sale June 1, so you can cheer on Lizzi and Kimberly at Miss Washington. Preliminary competition is July 2, and the finals are July 3.
Subdued Brewing Company's owners, Dave and Chris, share a brew on the patio.
By Laura Rogers
Subdued Brewing Company’s owners, Dave and Chris, share a brew on the patio.
Subdued Brewing Company aims to be true to its name.
The new brewery is slated for the heart of Bellingham’s hip Columbia neighborhood and Fountain District. The plan is to transform the old Gifford’s Market on Elm and Monroe into a laid-back, fun (but serious about beer) neighborhood gathering place. Though in the very beginning stages, owners Dave Morales and Chris McClanahan have recently jumped the next hurdle toward construction – their public notice meeting for a conditional use permit received an enthusiastic stamp of approval.
Subdued’s owners have a lot of work ahead of them, but have a solid vision in place. “While we don’t want to commit to a specific target date, we hope to be pouring our beers a year from now,” says Chris. “The construction will be a conversion with the most conversion happening in the production area. We will be making energy-code improvements, exploring solar, and enhancing the outside space, while providing lots of bike parking.”
In keeping with what feels like a Bellingham theme, Subdued Brewing will be settling into the scene and becoming one with the neighborhood. They are planning “to develop a space that blends in to the Fountain Urban Village, not one that sticks out.” Outdoor seating is planned for both street sides of the brewery, and like others before them, they will utilize the ever-popular food-truck culture. In addition, there will be some snacks in the taproom, possibly including those from nearby restaurants.
Dave and Chris are self-described Belgian beer junkies, but they will offer the locally-loved standards as well. IPA, pale ale, and stout will all be on tap, among others. But Subdued has set it’s sights on being just different enough from the other Bellingham breweries. “There will be some Belgian offerings as well, with our own twist to them. We are working hard on various prototypes and we are exploring beers that aren’t on brewery taproom lists right now. We will dare to be a little different than the brewery down the street in terms of our recipes, hops used, grains used and yeast strains used.” They will also run a couple of guest taps, wines, a cider, and a root beer. Kids will be welcome at Subdued with what the owners describe as a “safe and family-friendly environment in our taproom.”
Chris and Dave come to their endeavor with a great deal of combined experience. Chris began brewing around 1993 and has home-brewed over 400 batches since then. Dave started brewing in 1991 and has made beer in such well-known place as Boundary Bay Brewery, Pyramid Brewing, and Pike Place Brewery. They also are both nationally certified, and active beer judges.
Beer-lovers can keep an eye out for Subdued’s social media and website to kick-off as soon as construction is underway. Future patrons will be able to follow the new brewery’s progress through to opening. “In the meantime, if you see us around town, we’ll be the really tired looking guys who probably need a hug,” say the hard-working owners with a laugh.
The Havemans' 12.125 kW solar array in Whatcom County.
The solar industry in Whatcom County has never been hotter, and local installer Western Solar is at the forefront of providing solar arrays for homes and businesses. Washington’s unique incentives currently make the Pacific Northwest one of the best places in the country to install solar power right now.
Why Solar Power in Western Washington?
View from a 5.28 kW system above Chuckanut Bay.
Washington has a bit of a reputation for days with lots of cloud cover, but Washington State is actually a great location for producing solar energy! The Puget Sound area actually gets 30 percent more sunlight than Germany, the world’s leading user of solar.
“Everybody thinks about days of sun versus days of clouds,” says Josh Miller, founding partner and general manager of Western Solar. “But you need to look at hours of sun versus hours of clouds.”
Being so far north, Whatcom County’s summer days are long and relatively cool, which means that solar panels actually work better here. “A July day with 16 hours of sun and a temp of 70 degrees is really optimal,” Miller says. It doesn’t have to be a perfect sunny day for solar to work.
Whatcom County is also rich in opportunities for solar because Washington residents enjoy the best combination of solar incentives in the nation.
Unlike many other states, utilities in Washington are required to allow customers to overproduce energy, to accept that excess energy, and then allow you to spin your meter backwards. In other words, they purchase excess energy from you and credit it back to your account automatically.
“Some other states don’t even allow you to put power on the grid, or they charge monthly and annual fees,” says Miller. “Here in Washington, the utility works as your unlimited, free battery storage.”
Installing solar panels on your home or business is no small financial undertaking. But prices have fallen dramatically in recent years—and federal and state financial incentives have never been higher.
“We’ve hit that moment where prices are at an all-time low,” says Miller. “It’s about half the price it was five years ago.”
Enticing Incentives
The Havemans’ 12.125 kW solar array in Whatcom County.
Four big incentives currently make this a great time to install solar power here in Western Washington.
The first is net metering, mentioned above, where customers can push power they’re creating, but not using, out onto the grid.
“That’s a big one and a long-term benefit,” says Miller. “For the next 40 years, if those panels are on your house, you’re going to be net metering power.”
Other incentives include a 100 percent waiver of all sales tax on solar products and installation, and a 30 percent federal tax credit. “That’s a tax credit, not a tax deduction,” Miller clarifies. “So as long as you’re working and paying some sort of tax, it’s basically the same as cash.”
Right off the top, you have almost a 40 percent savings without even turning on your new solar system.
“Another big one is the production incentive,” says Miller. “Other states either pay a small upfront rebate or rebates on excess energy; here in Washington, they pay you cash for every single drop of energy that comes off your roof.”
The amount solar customers are paid ranges from 15 cents per kilowatt hour to 54 cents, if the installation includes all made-in-Washington materials. “That’s the highest rebate currently in the United States for residential solar,” says Miller, “up to $5,000 per year.”
Western Solar works with local solar panel manufacturer itek Energy—just a couple miles down the road from its office—for almost all the systems they install, so those customers automatically get that 54-cent rebate.
“We call them our silent partner,” says Miller, “because without them, our industry really couldn’t do what it’s doing. When you purchase a system from us, 80 to 85 percent of the money you spend stays in Whatcom County.”
Working with itek has allowed Western Solar to move away from installing Chinese-made solar panels. “All solar panels come with a 25-year warranty,” Miller says. “But I’d much rather have a 25-year warranty from a company down the road than trying to call up China.”
Free Site Assessments
Western Solar’s new office is at 4041 Home Rd in Bellingham.
Wondering if solar makes sense for your home or business? Western Solar offers free site assessments to anyone who wants to find out.
“We come out to your site and analyze 12 months of electric bills to learn all your energy usage patterns,” Miller explains. After reviewing usage patterns, they will measure the roof and analyze the number of solar panels that will fit in the space available.
The next step is to take readings with a device called a Solar Pathfinder, which takes shadow readings that take into account trees, telephone poles, and neighbors’ houses. Back at the office, they run the site-specific readings through a government program that has precisely tracked weather patterns for 30 years.
“We’re able to tell a customer exactly how a system is going to perform on their roof and exactly how many panels they need,” says Miller. “There’s a real science to it—it’s not just throwing 20 panels on a home.”
Every project is slightly different, but Western Solar strives to offset 100 percent of a customer’s annual usage. After the system has paid itself back, you can expect to continue using the panels for at least another 25 years.
“As far as investments go, it’s a pretty good one,” says Western Solar marketing coordinator Trish Haveman. And she should know—before she came to work at Western Solar, she was a customer.
“I was the ultimate skeptic,” she says. “My husband is a software developer and loves data. He said, ‘Let’s just get an assessment.’ I’m in support of helping out the environment, but I wasn’t going to do this if it didn’t pencil out for us financially.”
Josh came out, collected the data, and ran the numbers—and it clearly made financial sense.
The couple moved forward and when they received their 30 percent federal tax credit, they decided to invest that $10,000 in even more panels; they now run their home and two electric cars on solar energy derived from the ground-mount system on their five-acre property, offsetting upwards of 90% of their electricity use.
“I like the fact that I came to solar as a skeptic,” Haveman says. “If you’re even remotely interested and have an open exposure, just do the site assessment; you can look at the numbers and decide if it’s for you.”
Each site assessment includes a detailed 25-year financial analysis that shows what you’ll save on your electricity bill, what you’ll receive in state production credits, and factors in the 30 percent tax credit.
“And oh, look: At year five, you’re not in the red anymore, you’re in the black,” Haveman says.
The people behind Western Solar
A 5.4 kW 100% made-in-Washington system is installed in Stanwood.
Miller and Haveman make up half of the office team at Western Solar, rounded out by office manager Rachael Hope and system design and technical sales manager Markus Virta. The field crew of electricians and installers includes Eric Blatz, David “Zeke” Logan, Craig Folsom, Jack Truex, Tim Black, Getch Poole, and Brett Perry.
Jack Hardy, a longtime professor at Western Washington University’s Huxley College, started the company a decade ago after retiring from teaching. Back then, solar wasn’t about saving money—it was about saving the earth.
“He decided to build some solar homes out by Lynden, primarily doing it for the environmental impact,” explains Miller, who joined Western Solar early on, wearing many hats, from sales to office management, marketing to leading the installation crew.
Western Solar launched just as the solar industry began to soar; industry growth has been between 50 and 65 percent every year since 2008.
“We went from doing about 12 projects that first year to now doing five projects every week,” says Miller. Hardy retired three years ago, and Western Solar continues under Miller’s guidance.
Western Solar is one of the few local solar companies that do everything in-house, from sales and installation to remote monitoring of many customers’ systems.
It’s a team that Miller has carefully grown.
“We’ve recruited experienced guys from solar companies all over the place,” he says. “We’ve got people dropping off applications every day, but before we hire anyone, we really make sure they’re going to be the right fit.”
Solar is for Everyone
As the solar industry has grown and changed over the years, so has its customer base.
“We’re doing more work out in the county,” says Miller. “I would say the lower the income the more likely they are to put in a solar system, because it has a bigger effect on their pocketbook.”
Miller says Western Solar has completed far more projects on smaller homes and outside the city limits than it has, for example, on million-dollar homes in Bellingham’s high-end neighborhoods.
“This is a middle-class thing—and it’s not all tree-huggers,” says Miller. “Our customer base is evenly split: upper class, lower class, left-wing, right-wing. It used to be all environmental types, but now, once you start talking numbers and dollars, everyone can see that solar makes financial sense.”
Chuck and Dee Robinson are celebrating 35 years since they moved to Bellingham and opened Fairhaven’s beloved Village Books.
Village Books is celebrating 35 years of bringing all the best books, author readings, and so much more to Bellingham—and it has a new store in Lynden on the horizon.
It’s been an eventful three-and-a-half decades, to be sure.
WhatcomTalk recently sat down with founders and owners Chuck and Dee Robinson, as well as general manager Paul Hanson, to reminisce about the fantastic store that has been the heart of historic Fairhaven since 1980.
“It feels a little bit different for me, since I’m not working in the store anymore,” says Dee, who retired last year.
“You’re far more relaxed now than you were before,” Chuck jokes, and we all laugh.
“I don’t know how we worked as hard as we did 35 years ago,” Dee continues, “just the two of us at the store seven days a week.”
Paul speaks up. “I saw a picture of you two recently from a long time ago.”
“Did we look harried?” Chuck asks, to more laughter.
“Well, hairy—you had more hair then,” Dee teases.
“Actually,” says Paul, “you looked perplexed.”
Chuck remembers the photo. “It was a picture from maybe 25 years ago; we’re standing by a bookcase,” he recalls. “I look perplexed and Dee looked surprised.”
“Maybe it was around the store’s tenth anniversary and we were surprised that we’d gotten that far,” Dee says. Cue more mirth.
Chuck and Dee now laugh about looking “perplexed” and “surprised” in this photo taken around the 10th anniversary of Village Books.
Anyone who has spent time meandering through the overflowing Village Books shelves—both in the original space, south of the current Paper Dreams store and its fabulous current building, constructed two doors down in 2004—knows how exceptional this place is.
(Read WhatcomTalk’s in-depth interview with Chuck and Dee about how Village Books came to be. Spoiler alert: It involves a motor home and a cross-country search for new career paths—and it ends in Bellingham.)
For those who don’t remember what Fairhaven looked like 35 years ago—which includes about half of Village Book’s current staff members, who weren’t yet born—Chuck and Dee paint a vivid picture.
“When we came, the Village Inn wasn’t there and Judson Plaza across the street was an empty lot,” says Chuck. The Village Green was a dirt lot, still almost 25 years away from being dreamed up.
“The Skylark’s building was empty too,” remembers Dee. “There had been a fire there—and the Waldron Building was just a shell.”
It’s hard to imagine now, but Village Books investigated other locations, including a couple of different Fairhaven spots: where Three French Hens now resides and 12th Street Shoes.
“We seriously considered the old railroad car, which of course is no longer there,” Chuck says. “What would we have done if we’d gone in there? There was no room to expand.”
“You were on the wrong track,” jokes Paul, eliciting laughs and groans from this clever, pun-prone group.
In fact, the couple initially had some difficulty convincing landlords to rent to them. They were new to town with no experience in retail, proposing a start-up bookstore—and not long after Fairhaven Books had skedaddled for downtown.
Chuck and Dee toast the first anniversary of Village Books in 1981.
“Fairhaven Books was in what is now Sycamore Square,” says Chuck. It moved to what’s now India Grill on Cornwall, and closed in 1985. “It’s probably the only reason our bookstore wasn’t named Fairhaven Books.”
“We got checks for years made out to Fairhaven Books,” says Dee.
In crafting their vision of a bookstore, Chuck and Dee pictured a mom-and-pop store, surrounded by a small staff. “We never pictured anything this large,” Chuck says, looking around the downstairs readings gallery. “Or that we’d be two stores that would then kind of grow back into one store.” (Paper Dreams opened two years after Village Books; the two stores are now tightly integrated.)
In building their bookstore, the Robinsons also built a community—and one they often hear from customers new and old is instrumental in many people’s decision to move to the area.
“It’s really about people finding something here—and I’m not talking about just finding things to buy—but finding something in the institution of it that’s meaningful to them,” says Chuck.
This holds true for the folks who work at the store, too.
“The number of people who have worked here for more than 10 years is amazing, considering it’s not a business that pays well,” says Chuck. “They’ve found something that goes beyond just working—a community in itself.”
Celebrate with Village Books beginning on June 12 for a full weekend of festivities.
Chuck and Dee agree that one of the biggest highlights over the past 35 years has been the opportunity to meet authors the couple loves and discovering new authors who became fast friends.
“We didn’t know a single person when we moved to town,” says Dee. “And to think about the friends we’ve made all because of the bookstore—that’s been great.”
Chuck agrees. “We came here not knowing a soul and really being outsiders in the community,” he says. “And today we’re integrated in so many different things in the community. There probably aren’t a lot of people in town who don’t at least know who we are.”
Thirty-fifth anniversary festivities kick off on Friday, June 12, with Chuck talking about his updated “It Takes a Village Books,” originally published on the store’s 30th anniversary.
An anniversary sale runs Saturday and Sunday, June 13 and 14, with nearly everything in the store marked down 20 percent.
The weekend celebration wraps up in a big way on Sunday night at the Mount Baker Theatre, as part of the Booked at the Baker series with Dr. David Suzuki. He will be talking about his new book, “Letters to my Grandchildren.” Learn more here.
And though the store’s official anniversary is June 20, the festivities fall a week earlier because Chuck embarks June 15 on a 2,400-mile bike ride to his hometown of Galva, Illinois, to raise money for three charitable organizations, including the Whatcom Community Foundation. Learn more and make a pledge here.
“It’s a full weekend, and then I get to get on my bike and relax,” Chuck says with a laugh.
Bob Wallin Insurance is proud to announce that they are once again sponsoring the Feed the Need 5K for the community food drive. The proceeds from this 5K go directly to the the Whatcom County Food Banks. Last year, the event brought in over 11,000 pounds of food.
This event is a lot of fun and you don’t want to miss it. Don’t worry if you are not a runner, you can walk, roll or skip your way to the finish line. This year, GMB Entertainment will be providing live music during and after the run. Make sure you stop by the Bob Wallin Insurance booth to spin the wheel for some killer prizes! Bob Wallin Insurance will be giving away all sorts of fun prizes you won’t want to miss.
The Feed the Need 5K takes place on Saturday, June 20, at 9:00 a.m. at Hovander Park in Ferndale. Registration is $25 for adults and $15 for kids. You can register online or in person at any Industrial Credit Union branch.
Port Commission President, Dan Robbins, and Port Executive Director, Rob Fix, break ground with the Holiday Inn Developer Group.
Bellingham HI, LLC held a groundbreaking ceremony earlier last week for a 153-room full service Holiday Inn Hotel to be located across the street from Bellingham International Airport.
The new hotel will include over 7,500-square-feet of conference rooms and meeting space, a full service restaurant and bar, an indoor pool and spa, and underground secure parking in addition to surface parking.
“We are excited to start construction on this very significant project for the Bellingham and greater Whatcom County community,” said Dan Mitzel, Co-Managing Member of Bellingham HI, LLC. “Over one million people use Bellingham International Airport each year and we are pleased to offer airport travelers a convenient and affordable hotel option which will be located just a short walk from the passenger terminal.”
The new Holiday Inn is being built on port-owned property located on Mitchel Way, just south of the Pacific Cataract Laser Institute. Trees and vegetation will be removed from the site, giving the hotel better visibility from Interstate 5.
“This will be a tremendous amenity for our community,” said Port Commission President Dan Robbins. “I traveled on business trips for years and I would love it if I could walk out of the airport, go across the street and get a hotel room.”
The hotel is expected to take 16 months to build and the construction is valued at $20 million. Hotel Services Group, LLC (HSG) based in Mount Vernon will be the manager of the hotel. HSG is owned by Mitzel and other hotel investors. Mitzel’s construction company, M&H Contracting, LLC will be the general contractor. Major subcontractors for the project are based in Bellingham and the Mount Vernon area.
BLI has seen rapid growth in recent years with the total number of passengers increasing from 454,500 in 2008 to 1,128,575 in 2013. Many travelers come from Canada because airfare and parking are significantly cheaper at BLI than Vancouver International Airport which services 17 million passengers annually and is located just 45 miles to the north. The Port recently completed a $38.6 million dollar expansion project tripling the size of the commercial terminal to help meet the increased demand for low-cost airport services.
Growth at BLI has been driven by recreational travel, but the new Holiday Inn will offer a strategic advantage to regional business interests. BLI provides a vital transportation link that permits the rapid, efficient, and cost-effective movement of people, goods and services in and out of Whatcom County. The convenience of a fly in/fly out hotel combined with the close proximity of a new full service hotel with conference / banquet rooms capable of seating 300 in round table setup will enhance midsize group business and leisure travel to Whatcom County.
“We intend to create a market for inbound midsize group conference business that is not being pursued to any significant degree by the existing hotels that are located in Bellingham” stated Mitzel. “Bellingham needs to become a destination for out of area conference business.”
Hotel Services Group, LLC is a Washington Limited Liability Company established in 2007 specializing in hotel management and ground-up development. The corporate leadership team includes multiple hotel owners with significant hotel development expertise. Presently HSG manages a total of 8 hotels and has three hotel projects in development phase in Western Washington.
After five decades of operation, Barron Heating, AC, Electrical & Plumbing continues to be a local leader in meeting the heating needs of residents....
