Fort Columbia has been reborn, again. Fort Columbia has seen many cycles between investment and neglect during its one hundred and eleven years of existence. Construction for the fort started in 1896 and the flurry of projects cleared the hillside, poured thousands of tons of concrete to build the gun batteries, and built dozens of other support structures. All this hurry and yet two of the batteries were obsolete for the First World War. After the war, the fort got even quieter with just a caretaker or two to cut the blackberries away.

Fort Columbia saw its peak of action during World War 2. The fort grounds were covered with the tents and temporary structures needed to support over a hundred troops. When the war ended, the fort was unnecessary, deemed surplus, and it was decommissioned in 1947. The fort became a state park in 1950 and many of the structures were left standing and converted to new uses. There was strong local support for the operation of the new park with volunteers from the Daughters of the American Revolution; local community members staffed an art museum, the interpretive center and even a hostel. Then momentum and support waned.

The blackberries were poised and ready to take over. Then Evan Roberts, now Park manager of Cape Disappointment State Park, volunteer Lee Lowenson, and maintenance extraordinaire Alan Daulton came into the picture, or park that is.

There have been many busy hands involved with kick-starting the restoration of Fort Columbia State Park but these three men have played major roles in the process. It is my hope that we can once again garner the local communities to step up, share the stewardship of this tremendous heritage resource and get involved. We are starting to see a new investment in the park and the blackberries are quaking.

This winter, the interior wall of the former barracks, now interpretive center was replaced from beam to plaster. This work was the main reason the building has been closed to the public for the last few years. The stairway to the second floor has been reinforced and access to those exhibits has been restored that is, once the building is ready to be re-opened. A contract was just awarded to replace the old slate roof, once this project is completed, we hope to open the interpretive center open for tours this summer. Exhibits in the Fort Columbia Interpretive Center are focused on military life, but also includes other exhibits on relevant local history such as the Chinooks and Captain James Scarborough.

Fort Columbia Barracks

There is another museum at Fort Columbia State Park, a house museum located in the Commanding Officers Quarters, sometimes referred to as “The Columbia House”. This building has also been closed to the public for the last several years due to structural damage. Right now, the east wall of the building is being completely replaced, from top to bottom. All the windows from the east wall are being rebuilt, salvaging every piece possible, replicating the rest. This facility is also slated to be re-roofed this Spring and hopefully it will be re-opened this summer. The house museum, when open, will be once again furnished and decorated as it appeared in the early 1900’s.

Three new interpretive panels were recently installed at Fort Columbia State Park; each discusses a gun battery in detail with labeled blueprints for each structure identifying the rooms’ historic uses.

The theater, or former ordinance storehouse, was the venue primarily used during the recent Gateway Community Workshop. The theater was restored several years ago, that is, everything but the roof. Fortunately, a new roof is also in this building’s near future. This already great facility, will soon be all the better and ready for more meetings, concerts, dances, and wedding receptions.

The mine casemate at the fort has been selected as one of the Washington State Parks Centennial Plan projects. This means, by 2013, the plan is to have the casemate all cleaned, lit, with interior exhibits, open for tours to the public. This unique feature of the fort can be seen to the immediate right upon pulling into the park, in the “hillside” west of the theater. To learn more about the Centennial Plan go to: www.parks.wa.gov/Centennial2013/

Fort Columbia State Park is one of the most intact coastal defense forts remaining, it is a treasure for us to share and interpret. The investments being made at the park now will benefit the future visitors to our region, the school and tour groups that walk the grounds, and the locals that explore the beautiful hillside via the hiking trails. So when you see the blue tarp tacked over these structures, know that the work going on underneath them is preserving the stories of a very special place.