Here I go again. Am I the only one who cares about the Fort Borst Blockhouse?
It continues to sit under the dark forest of Fort Borst Park, falling apart and being ignored. It really needs to be moved back to its original location by the Borst Home on the Chehalis River behind Borst Park to be part of the “new old village” that has been built by the city recently. Or at least, shored up with new lumber to keep it from weathering and deteriorating into oblivion.
The last I heard about anything being done for the fort’s benefit was that there was a plan in place last spring and everything was lined up to have some logs replaced. The lumber and heavy equipment had been donated and most of the workers were donating their time on a Saturday to complete the project. At the last minute, the city canceled it, saying they weren’t going to pay overtime to the few city employees who had been lined up to help with the project.
I forwarded an email last year to Emil Pierson, community development director and manager of the Centralia parks department, regarding information I got from a state historical society that has money to help restore and fix these types of historical treasures. I never heard anything back from the city, not even a “thank you, we’ll look into it.”
The email laid out an opportunity for the city to apply for a grant next spring that will pay matching funds for such a project. But there is a time limit and it’s fast approaching. The reply I got from the historical society was that they had never heard of Fort Borst, but when he looked into it, he said it was a treasure. This shows me that no one has contacted such an agency.
What will be done, I wonder? Do we wait until it falls down and then salvage the lumber and make a few bucks? That seems to be the next step. I’m sure there are many citizens who would like an answer from the city manager as to what, if anything, is being planned so we can save this historic remnant from disappearing. It certainly doesn’t seem to be on anyone’s priority list. And by the way, the city manager and parks department manager don’t even live here.
The priority for the city is to spend millions on two historical cemeteries in town that have fallen into disrepair. That’s wonderful because a lot of people buried in those cemeteries, especially in the pioneer section of Mountain View, were living during the time the fort was built and probably even helped to build it.
I was the president of my junior class at Centralia and I remember the fort being on the letterhead of the school district, a symbol of our historic community. Additionally, I helped design the logo on the front of our class annual, which included a picture of the fort. It was also on city letterhead, but that’s been replaced by the wagon wheel.
The city has recently purchased a bank property for $1.2 million, as well as donating approximately the same amount to the Fox Theater, most likely because these two properties will bring in lots of money from tourists.
We need to encourage more tourists and our own citizens to learn about our history and not to let the reminders of it disappear. I would like an answer to be published about the plans for the future of this larger-than-life monument.
Greg Isaacson
Chehalis
