Elevator for the Polish Home!

Fundraising for an elevator at the Polish Home.

The Polish Home has been the community cornerstone for Poles and Polish-Americans in Seattle and Puget Sound for more than 85 years. The building itself is in a shape reasonable enough as it was remodeled and renovated piece-meal over the last decade. Among other things the bar and the lower hall have been remodeled and the floor and other elements upstairs renovated. In 2004, new noise reducing windows were installed at a cost of $21,000 and the Ladies Auxiliary remodeled the kitchen for another $21,000.

Despite all the positive changes, the technical state of the building is not good. The building is not functional for the modern age. Most of all it lacks an elevator, which is a problem for more and more people.  It also does not conform to the building codes and has an old electrical network and sewer lines. The stage upstairs requires complete remodeling that should also include changes to the backstage areas, emergency exit and stairs. There is no space appropriate to have an exhibition. Lastly, parking is a perennial cause of complaints.

Many of you heard about proposals for Polish Home extensions discussed since 2001. A preliminary plan, prepared by architect Roy Koczarski and approved by the Polish Home Association Trustees and Officers, as well as at a PHA members’ meeting on condition of appropriate financing, has been filed with the City in November, 2004, for a Conditional Use Permit.

In this situation, the PHA Trustees and Officers, with an arrangement with the Polish Home Foundation, decided on March 1, 2005, to start raising funds for the extension and modernization of the Polish Home.

What do we want to achieve and for how much?

The first thing to know is that the proposed preliminary plan has variants and stages: the Polish Home can be extended and added to differently depending on financial capabilities – with costs from 300 thousand to 600 thousand dollars and more. An extension for the elevator is about 300-350 thousand. A proposed manager apartment would cost an additional 150 thousand, while dismantling the manager house on the parking lot, repaving the parking and water and sewer works would cost another 70 thousand. A new ventilation system for the whole building (the new and old part), including attic isolation, is estimated at 80-100 thousand. Finally, remodeling of the stage area upstairs with a new emergency exit and stairs is another 20-30 thousand dollars. The pictures show two views of the extended Polish Home from the street.

Minimal extension w/ elevator 250-300 thousand dollars (without parking or any other costs)

The proposed extension w/ elevator  300-350 thousand dollars (with a new ventilation for the whole PH, parking, manager apartment and other costs  600+ thousand dollars)

As you can see, an extension with an elevator costs at least $250,000. The proposed extension version for 300-350 thousand makes it possible to implement better solutions in future once financing is available for subsequent variants and stages of improvements.

What first and how to collect 300-350 thousand dollars?

In any case an elevator is first! Nobody needs convincing how much it is needed! Additionally, it will make event organization as well as hall renting easier. An access to the elevator will be direct from the street and parking level. From there, the elevator would go either down, to the level of the current first floor, or up, to the level of the upper hall. The elevator will also make it possible to access the next level of the new floor and the attic. To build an elevator, the building needs to be extended at the front. In the extension there will be place for a new comfortable stairs, a new library room serving also as an exhibition room, and in the extended version, for an apartment of the PH manager on the additional floor. The extension will make it possible to recover the space from the current stairs for rooms to store tables and chairs.

How to collect 300-350 thousand dollars? This is a respectable sum, but no doubt reachable! First, about 350-400 families are involved with the Polish Home. However, we want to appeal not only to the PHA members but to everybody who comes to the PH. The address list for the Polish Home has over 800 addresses and the bazaar list stands at 1200. We want to reach everyone on these lists.

If half of these people want to support us, an average cost of building an elevator will be around $500 per family; an average, as some people could give may be $100 while others will be glad to contribute a thousand or two. Of course these sums can and will be spread over time – we expect gathering pledges over April and May 2005, and actual contributions from spring 2005 to spring 2006. Please note that all the contributions can be tax deductible due to the fundraiser being run by the Polish Home Foundation. 

Besides money, the extension can be supported with professional knowledge and labor.  The building costs can be lowered by volunteers working on the project – from the architect to a painter. We definitely count on support of this kind.

It should be noted that at an initial gathering about two years ago, several people pledged to support the extension with sums from $500 up to $5000, for a total of over $30,000. Also, the last ventilation fundraising resulted in about $13,000. We can then say that we already have the first 10%!

The elevator – appeal for the volunteers and support!

Still, the key to success is in casting as wide a net as possible, that is in reaching as many people as possible. Hence, on behalf of the fundraising committee, I would like to appeal not only for the financial support for the elevator but also for volunteers who could help to prepare and run the fundraiser. We need connections to every community around and we welcome everybody willing to help! The committee will be publicly accountable for the collected funds and invites all the Polish organizations and communities in Seattle and Puget Sound to help and cooperate. The volunteers should contact Ryszard Kott, the president of the Polish Home Foundation, or other officers of the PHA & PHF.

Let’s show that the Polonia of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest can build in united effort a Polish Home suitable for the 21^st century! 

Ryszard Kott

President, Polish Home Foundation