Olympia Armory Creative Campus

We’re seeking suggestions to permanently name three important park properties that have not yet been officially named by the City: “The Olympia Armory,” “Yelm Highway Community Park,” and “Kaiser Woods Park.”

We will be collecting ideas from September 4-27, 2024.

• Submit your names

Selection Committee for Anchor Partners at the Armory Creative Campus identifies Eight Organizations to offer Anchor Partnership

The City of Olympia has offered eight community arts non-profits (Anchor Partner) with a strong track record in community arts education and training to enter contract negotiations to become Anchor Partners in the Armory Creative Campus Building and relocate their operations to the site with a long-term lease. These eight organizations applied to be considered through a Request for Qualifications and were selected by a community representative committee.

Organizations selected include:

1. The Bridge Music Project
2. Capital City Pride
3. Community Print
4. Kokua Services /Hummingbird Studio
5. Olympia Film Collective
6. Olympia Lamplighters
7. PARC Foundation
8. TC Media

The working vision of the Armory Creative Campus has four key components that Anchor Partner(s) will play a major role in helping the City achieve:

Community Life

Create unifying community culture through shared arts and cultural experiences.

• Space for gatherings, traditions, and events
• Arts classes and creative experiences for the whole community
• Preservation of historic building for sense of place and community continuity.

Operating from an Equity Framework

The City operates from a social justice framework to work towards equity through accessibility and inclusion in partnership with community members

• Bridge barriers to access—financial, geographic, cultural
• Adapt to emerging needs of underserved groups and individuals
• Provide affordable artist live/work space

Connecting People, Ideas, and Place

Art breathes life into the places we live, helps promote a sense of belonging, and encourages shared understandings between diverse people and ideas.

• Community led public art projects & initiatives
• Culture of belonging & inclusivity
• Growth through partnerships
• Hub for growth and Creative District cultural anchor

Growth Through Creativity and Innovation

Create opportunities for individuals, organizations and the economy.

• Innovative programs in traditional & emerging forms
• Skill building, workforce development and access to specialized equipment
• Organization Incubator

What’s Next?

Selected organizations will enter into contract negotiations with the City of Olympia to enter into a lease agreement for different areas in the Armory Creative Campus with the intention to move in for the Armory Creative Campus grand opening currently slated for 2026.

The Armory building is currently closed for construction to complete essential life/safety and accessibility upgrades that will make the Armory building a safe, accessible, and functional space that will transform into a community arts center. The selected Anchor Partner organizations will work with the City of Olympia and Ameresco, the contractor for construction, to help inform the design and construction process for the upgrades over the next two years.

The Armory Creative Campus Concept Plan was awarded Governor’s Smart Communities Smart Planning Award!

Read the news release from the Washington State Department of Commerce

The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Anchor Partners at the Armory Creative Campus is Open!

The City is seeking community arts non-profits (Anchor Partner) with a strong track record in community arts education and training to become Anchor Partners in the Armory Creative Campus Building, relocating their operations to the site.

Want to be an Anchor Partner? Join us at the Olympia Armory on November 15 at 3 p.m. for an info session on Anchor Partnership.

Have questions? Please email Valerie at vroberts@ci.olympia.wa.us.

• View the RFQ and supplemental materials
• Create a Submittable login to apply

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• View Submittable's new submitter help
• View Submittable's FAQ for applicants

The City of Olympia has selected Ameresco as the contractor for Phase 1 construction.

Through the Department of Enterprise Services Energy Savings Program, the City of Olympia will be working with Ameresco to conduct a full-scale audit of the Armory facility as well as Phase 1 design and construction to make the building safe, accessible, and functional as a community art center. The audit will begin fall of 2023 with construction to start in 2024.

Phase 1 focus

• Accessibility: ADA upgrades to all rooms, elevator installation
• Essential Building Improvements: Secure building envelope, seismic study and feasibility review for emergency shelter use, mechanical electrical plumbing and HVAC upgrades, safety systems, hazardous material abatement, lighting, and full window replacement.
• Designing with Community: All essential upgrades made to fit within a larger plan for future phases including Partner and community input on creating welcoming, safe, and accessible building.

About Ameresco

Ameresco is a leading cleantech integrator and renewable energy asset developer, owner, and operator. They work to reduce operating expenses, upgrade, and maintain facilities, stabilize energy costs, improve occupancy comfort levels, increase energy reliability and resiliency, and enhance the environment. They have successfully implemented energy-saving, environmentally responsible projects for federal, state, and local governments, healthcare and educational institutions, housing authorities, and commercial and industrial customers, including several cities, counties, and agencies across the State. Ameresco’s local team offers more than 10 decades of combined design and integration experience and their expertise includes design, procurement, testing, construction, commissioning, ownership, operations and maintenance, and verification of savings or production. All of these amazing skills and resources will be directed to the Armory Creative Campus project to create a sustainable, safe and accessible building for the community to use for decades to come.

The City of Olympia and Framework Cultural Placemaking were awarded the APA/PAW 2023 Excellence in Planning Award for Community Involvement for the Olympia Armory Creative Campus Concept Plan.

For the 37th year, the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA-WA) and the Planning Association of Washington (PAW) jointly honored outstanding contributions to the field of planning in Washington State. The award program goals are to recognize great planning efforts in Washington, promote excellent planning in government and the private sector, and increase public awareness of the roles of APA-WA and PAW in supporting outstanding planning in Washington State. Seven projects were presented with awards in the categories of Comprehensive Planning, Community Involvement, Implementation, Sustainability, and Transportation Planning

The City of Olympia has been selected to receive a $75,000 Our Town award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support the Armory Creative Campus - Arts Interventions and Facility Design. This is one of 51 grants nationwide in this category to support projects that integrate arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities by advancing local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes; ultimately laying the groundwork for systems change and centering equity.

Calling all artists, culture bearers and creatives! Apply by May 8 with your proposal for an Armory Arts Intervention.

Selected projects will receive $2,500-$15,000 and space use at the Armory during the month of July 2023.

The City of Olympia, The Bridge Music Project and PARC Foundation of Thurston County are collaborating to launch an Arts Interventions and Facility Design Phase in 2023, part of a multi-year plan to support the transformation of the Olympia Armory as a Creative Campus. The purpose of the project is to engage artists, culture bearers, and a youth action council to lead in reimagining possible uses of the space through temporary art installations and creative pop-up projects to inform facility design.

Apply here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/artsinterventions

Deadline: May 8, 2023

Need more information? Attend one of these online info sessions with Q&A:

• Tuesday, April 25, at 2-3pm (Register)
• Wednesday, May 3 at 12-1pm (Register)

Please welcome our new Armory Building Manager, Valerie Roberts! Valerie comes to the position with a unique skillset in community and partnership centered work, strategic planning, and project management in arts organizations, museums and parks.

Their work managing public spaces, including cultural and art museums has focused on creating access with a mind to give all a safe and positive experience, and collaboratively building places that are welcoming, people focused, and DEAI and Decolonization centered. As a project manager, Valerie brings experience managing building operations (including historic buildings), safety and access. Additional work with Washington State Parks involved working strategically with invested partners, community members and Park staff to develop effective and thoughtful contracts that best help them facilitate their work to create accessible and DEAI centered community opportunities.

Valerie arrives at just the right time for the Armory as we begin to formalize relationships with community partners and begin Phase 1 design and construction.

The City of Olympia has been recommended for a $1 million Heritage Capital Project Grant from the Washington State Historical Society for rehabilitation and preservation work on the 1939 Olympia Armory building. Grant recommendations must go to the State Legislature for final approval and inclusion in the 2023-25 Capital Budget. This is one of 29 grants statewide that support communities in providing public access to history by preserving and interpreting Washington's history and heritage.

In Olympia the grant funds will support an initial set of repairs and improvements needed to allow the City to open the doors of the old Armory as a new Creative Campus for Olympia. The Armory building is listed on the Olympia Heritage Register and is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

• Read the media release

The March 19 Housewarming celebrated the official transfer of the Armory building to the City. It was an event filled with performances and a chance for attendees to see emerging themes in the ongoing visioning process and share input on how to prioritize these ideas. Over 517 people attended.