Current Projects

Odlin County Park Visitor Contact & Maintenance Facility 

What is being built?

The project includes a small visitor contact station, office, and a modest maintenance shop designed to care for public lands and equipment. 

Why is the County pursuing this project? 

The existing campground office and maintenance shop do not adequately meet the park's growing operational needs. 

• Outdated infrastructure: The maintenance shop, constructed decades ago, is outdated, structurally deficient, and not suited to present-day safety or storage standards. 
• Not conducive for year-round operations: Park rangers serve a busy public during the late Spring, Summer, and Fall, but in the off-season, they work to repair and rehabilitate the park after visitor use. 
  • In the current facility, workers don't have an enclosed space to work and are exposed to blowing rain and wind during the winter.
  • Additionally, running water isn't available. There is no water for flushing toilets, drinking, or washing hands. 
• Ineffective storage: From mowing, grading roads and gravel parking areas, to installing culverts, and more – the equipment needed to maintain park infrastructure has expanded and is not well covered. The harsh winter weather and a saltwater marine environment shorten equipment's lifespan. Being able to store equipment effectively will extend its lifespan and stretch operational budget dollars.
• Separating living quarters from visitor services: The current visitor office is actually a bedroom of the park ranger's residence. The back door of the office leads into the employee's living space, leading to a lack of personal space and privacy. By addressing facility upgrades for maintaining the park grounds and infrastructure, there is also an opportunity to remove a busy park contact station from private living quarters.

A purpose-built facility will help staff manage the campground more efficiently, support visitor services, and ensure long-term stewardship of Odlin County Park and public lands across Lopez Island.

CURRENT SHOP CONSTRUCTION 1997

Why was the proposed site selected?

Multiple potential locations across the park were evaluated, with environmental, operational, and cultural impacts carefully considered. This location emerged as the leading feasible option.

1. In considering locations, the first area explored was the existing site of the carport area. Two key concerns and limitations ruled out its use for the site. 

1. Size constraints: To combine facilities and construct a building that is capable of holding a visitor contact station, office, and maintenance and storage elements, it would be too large for the existing site. 
2. ADA Concerns: ADA access is required when constructing a new government building. There was strong concern about the building's size and the ADA turning radius off such a narrow road. The existing office has the parking area to buffer vehicles with a wide turning radius, but the carport area does not. The south side of the narrow road is a steep drop-off and does not have a parking space buffer for the turning radius into ADA parking spots. 

It was briefly explored to cut back further into the carport area to address the concerns listed above, the eliminating factor was the site being at the base of 30% or greater slopes. Attempting to site the building further back into the hillside would create nearly certain slide conditions with the level of moisture held by the soils on site.

2. Other areas were considered, but were eliminated due to existing infrastructure such as the group camp and boat trailer parking lot. Additionally, this infrastructure is protected in its use by the RCO contract that funded it. 

3. There is a grassy field across from the current office that was considered, but nothing can be constructed in the location due to a well-head buffer of 100ft radius within its location.

After evaluating the limiting factors of all sites, the current site was identified. A survey of trees throughout the area identified a portion with a significantly lower density of mature trees. In an effort to disturb as few trees as possible, the building was sited in that location. Although some trees must be removed, this site represented the smallest overall ecological impact and avoided new disturbance in higher‑value habitat areas.