Community center to be built this summer

July 8--About five years' worth of fundraising and grant-writing will pay off this summer when the Palouse Community Center is finally able to begin construction of its public-use building.

The building, to be located on Main Street in Palouse, has been a community effort in terms of raising the estimated $540,000 for expenses. One local foundation, the Mike Carlton Memorial Fund, was organized to pay tribute to a longtime Palouse resident and former employee of the Pullman Police Department who died unexpectedly from a metabolic brain injury in October 2010. Carlton's friends organized the solar panel fund with a goal of $20,000 for 20 solar panels, which will conserve energy and generate money for the center.

Sharon Tharp, chairwoman of the renewable energy project for the center, said the group has raised about $12,000 for the solar panels, thanks to help from community members and business support. Through the Washington State Renewable Energy Production Incentive and the Washington State Department of Revenue, Tharp said the center will make 15 cents for every kilowatt per hour made by the solar panels for the next 10 years.

"Most of the buildings in downtown Palouse are spending up to $1,000 a month for heating, so this is really going to help because the center can use that money for something else," Tharp said. "We're hoping the panels can pay for maybe 80 percent of that."

She also said using this type of technology should make an impact on surrounding areas.

"It's going to be an educational demonstration -- both the solar panels and heating system," Tharp said. "There's about 10,000 people who visit Palouse every year for community events ... you can see solar panels from the streets and once the community center is open, I think the other towns will see how it's working."

A $20,000 grant was recently received from the Inland Northwest Community Foundation and will go toward purchasing an energy-efficient heating and cooling system and forced-air electric dual heat pumps. Scott Beeson, chairman of the community center board, said they could not have afforded the heating and cooling system without the grant, and now the system will pay for itself in energy savings. It will also provide air conditioning, a luxury they hadn't planned on.

"The heat pumps are 200 percent efficient, so the community center will have this very efficient heating system with the grant from the Inland Northwest Community Foundation," Tharp said. "It's awesome. It's the future -- there will be even less costs for the heating-cooling system."

The community has raised more than $380,000 for the building and a small mortgage will cover the leftover expenses, Beeson said. The energy produced by the solar panels goes directly into the grid and Avista will also pay the center for the electricity being produced.

"We were very excited to get it (the grant) -- it's the first time we've ever done anything like this here," Tharp said. "Now we're just waiting for the contractor to sign the bids, get his crew together and start digging."

Kelli Hadley can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 234, or by email to khadley@dnews.com.

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