SEABECK — The public is invited to Seabeck Conference Center on Sunday, April 29, when it dedicates two new lodging buildings.
“Huckleberry” and “Salal” each holds 16 people in eight rooms, and follow the theme of naming various buildings at the scenic, historic center after Northwest plants and trees.
The celebration starts at 3:30 p.m. in the dining room in the main building with an annual update from the conference center’s leaders. The new buildings are dedicated at 4 p.m. and tours begin after that. The buildings are made to look old, but are modern on the inside and handicapped-accessible.
They mark the first new construction at the nonprofit center for many decades and were funded by gifts, two of the biggest from the C. Keith Birkenfeld Memorial Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The center covers 90 acres overlooking Hood Canal and has been in operation since 1915. Some of the shingled and clapboard buildings predate the Civil War.
Each year, as many as 200 groups from all over the world come to the center, 93 percent of them repeat visitors. The center is Seabeck’s unofficial community hub.
The new buildings are part of a subtle 20-year upgrade aimed at making the center a little less rustic so it can continue to compete for customers, while retaining its old-time character.
More information about the center is at www.seabeck.org, along with renderings of the new buildings.
