Grant helps Community Center become ‘clean air refuge’

Originally published by the Methow Valley News June 5, 2025. written by Ralph Schwartz

Gym to close in July for retrofit

Bertha is 80 years old and ready for retirement.

The World War II-era boiler has been heating the Methow Valley Community Center for most of the building’s 113 years. But she won’t be burning waste oil much longer. The center is getting an energy retrofit starting this summer, thanks in part to a $450,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce included in the state Legislature’s 2025 capital budget.

That money is actually earmarked for phase 2 of the renovation, which could begin as early as this fall. Phase 1 starts July 1, when the gym will be closed so a contractor can install electric heat pumps, air filters and insulation. For phase 2, the offices on the building’s north end will get the same treatment, and Bertha can finally take a rest.

“She’s got a lot of personality,” Methow Valley Community Center Association Executive Director Sarah Thomas said. “We have a couple of dedicated tenders. Otherwise, she would not be functional.”

The Twisp library, the Visitors Information Center and other offices will not be affected by phase 1 construction and will remain open over the summer.

The Community Center gym is a venue for events such as the recent Trashion Show and this month’s Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival. The space also hosts summer camps and serves as a respite from the heat and smoke this time of year. 

While the gym won’t be available starting in July (Thomas is optimistic it will be finished in time for Halloween), it will become more effective as a safe space during extreme weather or wildfire after the work is done. The heat pumps will provide air conditioning, and the filters will remove harmful smoke particles from the air. The Department of Commerce lists the Community Center grant as a “clean air refuge” project.

The transition from Bertha to heat pumps will also reduce the Community Center’s carbon footprint, as the building will no longer rely on filtered, used motor oil for heat. 

“It’s really an effort to retrofit the building for its next 100 years of service to this community,” Thomas said. “The space is going to be a lot more comfortable after this retrofit.”

Phase 1 will cost $1.3 million, Thomas said, and that money has already been raised. With the $450,000 state grant, the Community Center has $1.9 million committed to the energy upgrade — most of the $3.1 million total project cost.

But before the Community Center gets serious about public fundraising to finish the building renovation, it has launched its annual giving campaign — especially important this year, Thomas said, because the center is losing some rental revenue from the gym closure. The Community Center is accepting donations at methowcommunity.org.

Bertha, the 80-year-old boiler that heats the Methow Valley Community Center, will be retired after a $3 million energy upgrade.