On Tuesday, October 16, the Port Commissioners of Skamania County unanimously approved our lease.
Play Frontier officially has a home in the Wind River Business Park in Stabler, WA!
Here it is, the new home of Frontier Center for Child Development! We cannot wait to fill this blank canvas with children, laughter, and PLAY!
We will be right on the border of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, in a building that used to be the seed processing plant at the Wind River Nursery. Fronter Center for Child Development, our nature playschool, will occupy 2,400 square feet of current office space in the “Processing Plant.” For those of you familiar with the area, it is the giant building across the street from the US Forest Service Wind River Work Center, a 5 minute walk to Hemlock Recreation Site, and a 10 minute walk to the Wind River Arboretum! There is also a long and winding parking lot, which I have come to call the “paved stroller path”.
The Port of Skamania and Skamania County have both been incredible allies in our search for a location. The day this spot opened up I got a call, and after about three seconds of being inside I knew it was “the one.” We cannot say thank you enough for the hard work of the Port and the County. We would not be here today without them!
My vision for Frontier Center for Child Development is creative and community oriented. I want the space to feel like a magical children’s wonderland hidden away in the woods, complete with sand mountains for digging, towers for climbing, grass for running, and puddles for jumping… that’s just outside! Inside we will have three classrooms: infant (0-12 mo), toddler (1-2.5 years), and preschool (2.5-5 years), along with space for climbing and reading and cuddling and experimenting and creating. We will have endless space for playing, which means endless space for LEARNING!
The challenging work is done, and now comes the fun. Over the next two months, we will be transforming the space from its blank-slate state to a warm and welcoming school. We will need fencing, plumbing (tiny toilets are so cute!), appliances, electrical upgrades, yard work, and a touch of creative flair. And I have a dream of re-creating the Wind River Experimental Forest Canopy Crane from decommissioned parts as a playground fixture… but that is another tale for another time.