Help shape the future of our community. Please mail your tax-deductible contribution to:

Palouse Community Center
Post Office Box 23
Palouse, Washington 99161

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 Blending our proud Palouse history with the challenges of today's community needs, the vision of a newly renovated community center comes into clear focus. The first floor of the center includes a large meeting room addition, a gated courtyard, a new expansive kitchen, updated bathrooms, smaller meeting rooms, storage, and off-site parking. Second floor plans include spacious upstairs apartments while the mezzanine would accommodate small businesses.

 The new center will offer a renewed gathering place for our children, elders and families, our clubs and organizations, our businesses and civic groups to connect, shape and grow our community. Through a commission with the Board of Directors, architect, Karen Owsley, has developed a plan to renovate and expand the building.

 Gross estimated costs range from $400,000 to $800,000 and potential funding sources include the Kreske Foundation, the M J Murdock Charitable Trust, other grant sources, fundraising, and local volunteer efforts. Contributions to date include a long-term lease of 40 feet of adjacent land from the City of Palouse; $7,000 from the Chamber of Commerce 2004 Haunted Palouse proceeds; and over 140 volunteer hours donated toward building renovation in the first half of 2005.

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Today, the building is home to the Palouse Community Center, which has occupied it since 1984, minus a short stint when the grocery store relocated here after the flood of '96.

In 2004 alone, over 4,000 people attended center activities such as the Council on Aging and Human Services weekly nutrition dinners for seniors, Lion's Club functions including Christmas with Santa and the ever-popular Palouse Days breakfast, Girl Scout meetings, craft and quilting camps, computer classes, the Round Table Christmas Bazaar, Boy Scout fundraisers, and private functions such as birthday parties and wedding receptions.

 Built in 1893, the community center building has served the heart of Palouse for well over a century. Once the home to one of the finest opera houses south of Spokane, it featured medicine shows, lectures, and musicals, seating over 200 people. One of the biggest names to lecture here was prohibitionist Carrie Nation who, in 1910, prompted Palouse citizens to declare their city "dry", Victor McLaughlin, professional boxer and Oscar winning actor, staged exhibition boxing matches and gave lessons to local athletes.

 Over the years, the building housed several prominent businesses including a general merchandising store, a J C Penney department store, and a pharmacy. Business owners and their families lived upstairs as did other apartment dwellers.

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