From left to right, Bill Porter, Millie, Isaac Gardiner, and Pamela Sampel on the land just prior to the dedication ceremony.
Photos by: Steve Johnson, Walter Parsons, Andrew Shaw

After four years of visioning and effort and perseverance the Port Townsend Meditation Center now owns the four lots needed to build a meditation center for everyone.

The four lots total 20,000 square feet, and are on one of the main arteries in town, easily accessible to everyone who lives or visits here.

With help from a generous donor we closed the deal on May 10, followed by a short ceremony of gratitude and dedication on May 19.

The plasticine version of the 30” bronze bell for the center by artist Tom Jay. He died just before work was done, and it was finished by his wife Sara Johani.

Bill Porter, better known as Red Pine, the translator of Chinese Buddhist texts, has long held the vision of an open meditation center. He has hoped for years the Port Townsend meditation community could develop a space where anyone who wants to can meditate, and where any meditation group can find a home.

As Red Pine puts it, “Huineng repeatedly states ‘meditation and wisdom are one,’ so if we build a meditation hall the wisdom will come with it, and all beings will benefit.”

This is dharma on the move.

We believe a meditation center is as essential a public building as a courthouse or post office or hospital. We plan to develop two spaces, hoping this will allow local groups to schedule regular events, while still allowing for other groups or individuals to use the building to suit their needs, whether a weeklong retreat or just a drop-in for a few minutes of quiet and reflection.

With the land purchased we started removing a derelict fence. We began even without the official permit, because as the Heart Sutra says,  “Without walls of the mind and thus without fears.”

Now the processes of the planning department are in motion, and we hope to have a conditional use permit by late summer.

From left to right: Isaac Gardiner, Bill Porter, and Walter Parsons discussing plans for the Building 409 renovation, before the lease was denied.

Our application packet has been submitted along with a substantial fee.  It will pay for mailing notices to all neighbors within 300 feet, a sign posted on the land, a published notice in the local paper, and a public hearing after which an independent examiner will decide whether we can build.

We anticipate approval, and then we will begin construction fundraising.

Prior to this latest application submission we met with city planning and received encouragement, while they researched how other Washington municipalities have handled requests such as ours. We are not a school nor a church, both allowable in residential neighborhoods, but we are similar to both. Our architect encourages us to go in the church direction.

Another important aspect of our ambitious plan is collaborating with internationally known artist James Turrell, who works with light, both natural and artificial. With his input we hope to create a truly unique and inspired space.

A long journey for a home

The Chestnut Hills Quaker Meeting House in Philadelphia by James Turrell, who will design the Port Townsend meditation center.

This land purchase is the latest step in what has been a dogged pursuit of a potential space over the last four years.

In 2018, when our first article about the Port Townsend Meditation Center appeared in the Northwest Dharma News, the route to a hall seemed clear. We had been in an ongoing conversation with the State Parks Commission about the renovation and use of building 409, an old warehouse on the nearby Fort Worden State Park grounds. We had been reassured, at each level of investigation and investment, that parks officials would help us craft a lease application that would meet with their approval.

By June that year, after a year of work and fundraising to support consultations, architectural plans, and amended plans, everything was in place. We submitted our application. But unfortunately, someone who might have been communicating with someone apparently had not been, and by August 29 our application was rejected.

At this point we were discouraged, yet our intention to create a meditation space for all comers was still strong.

A view of the vacant lots where the meditation center will be, from across the street.

But then the pandemic and its forced closings and distancings came, and many of the the possibilities we’d researched disappeared. We, like many, saw that it was going to be quite some time before anyone needed a public space where people could gather for any purpose.

As the months went by we started looking around Port Townsend for land which we thought city planning would permit for a project such as ours. We sought a place that would be accessible, central, and relatively quiet.

By year’s end we were back to writing mission statements, attempting to reassess our whole mission and approach. We were still determined.  And then we discovered two lots for sale, and later that the adjoining two lots were also on the market. By May we became land owners.

Now, in anticipation of our next steps,  we are looking  to expand and diversify our board of directors. If you have questions or suggestions, or want to offer some support, please contact us at porttownsendmeditationcenter@gmail.com or through our website: porttownsendmeditationcenter.org.