Schold Farm Review.

[arontius]

.....Well, Arion took us on a tour yesterday of Schold Farm outside of Silverdale, a potential June Faire Site. It had its good points, bad points and ugly points.

.....The Good: It is more-or-less a level grassland throughout the site. Even though it is located within some wetlands areas, the useable areas actually look like they remain above high tide. :-) I'll have to make a run out there the next time it rains heavily to see how the ground looks.

.....The site is rather good looking, with most modern-ness hidden from view. The Clear Creek Trail system runs through the area, so there are nice footpaths, bridges, stream accesses, etc. When set up properly the ambience could be really nice.

.....The site can be contained from vehicle traffic. There is only one real road onto site, and a maybe one exit. If this can be turned completely into a one-way situation, it could work out O.K. Ghosting from the SCA would be difficult unless people wanted to haul in all their equipment down one of the multiple footpaths onto site. :-)

.....The useable areas look to be about the same size as the uplands at Port Gamble, with more actual USEABLE lands. A church owns part of the territory, and it is large enough to use as a parking area. There is also a privately owned farm to the north of the property that has a potential of use, maybe for parking or more camping.

.....The county is apparently hurting for funding at the moment to maintain their parks system and now would be a good time to negotiate a deal.

.....The Bad: There are several site owners, all of whom would require a different set of negotiation. A 'Citizens Advisory Committee' runs the actual Schold Farm itself. This is the same group with whom Chris Schultz and I dealt with a handful of years ago. They were a grumpy bunch then, but their emphasis seems to have centered on Howe Farm in Port Orchard. We'd have to more-or-less deal with just the county on Schold Farm, which might make things a little easier.

.....The Clear Creek Trail System runs throughout the site, with multiple walking and biking paths. I doubt that we could close down access over the weekend.

.....Parking would probably be an issue. I'm not sure where we would park all the modern traffic. A good suggestion that was brought forth was to park cars at the mall and bus people on to site. Would certainly reduce the impact of cars on the site itself and remove many traffic and parking hassles.

.....The impact on the grounds itself could be an issue. The area is 'protected' and there could be restrictions on traffic on the grounds. How long vehicles could be parked on the grass, how many roads are made, etc. But the SCA has a good history of leaving sites in better condition than we found them, so I think that this hurdle could be jumped.

.....The Ugly: The site is a wetlands area. Even though it looks like it is relatively high above the tide line, I'm not sure what the area would be like after a good rain. Parts of it could turn into a swamp.

.....After taking out the non-useable wetlands areas, the site is not huge. We'd have to be careful of what we put where and just how many people camp over the weekend. We might even have to consider a pre-registration system that puts a cap on the total number of people on site. Which creates headaches on its own.

.....Overall, I like the site. But I don't see it as any kind of permanent home for June Faire. It has the potential to host a time or two, but I think that the environmental and recreational goals of those maintaining the site would not fit very well with the purpose of June Faire, which is, in reality, more of a circus than anything. Arion asked me for a letter of intent to take to the county, which I'll draft and run through him for review.

.....I'm actually a little worried about June Faire and its future at this point. It's growth may preclude its existance in Kitsap County. Reducing its size would be difficult. I worry that any tinkering along those lines would result in a mass exodus on the scale of Egils. I think that we're going to have to get more serious about scouring the county for potential sites, and then working hard with those sie owners, if we want to find any sort of real home for June Faire. The Fairgrounds may be our only final option. We've used it before, but it isn't my favorite option, that's for sure.

.....More to follow.

.....Aaron / Arontius.

Comments

[greywolfe64.livejournal.com]

Aaron,
How's the negotiations going for the Tribal/Art School land in Poulsbo? I know that its hilly but if we can get the land and start working on mapping it we can design an intelligent usage plan early. Just a thought.

Parking away from site and bussing doesn't seem to work very well and I think it only exasperates the moderns. With the Fairgrounds we at least have sufficient parking on site.

[hrollaug.livejournal.com]

I'm not recalling right now, didn't we pass on this site once before?
I have a dim recall we looked at it during a "spring" period and found that there was too little room for June Fair. The addition of neighboring land should help.
I wouldn't be worried about the paths, they actually don't see all that much use

[gwen-the-potter.livejournal.com]

What about Mintor Creek Farm? Do you think since the Renn Faire is no longer there, that perhaps they may want a Medieval Faire? We know a bit more about it. Sure, it's out of the local area, but if we have to have a large site, that may be a solution.

[brighidross.livejournal.com]

I know I am Pollyanna, but I am not pessimistic. June Faire may well change...it certainly has over the last 15 years...but I think if we keep focus on which aspect of the event we want to nuture, we will find a way to make it work. It may cost more, and not be the cash windfall it has been in the past...but I think the event itself will be fine..no matter how it is re-invented. Let's not forget to contact the Port Gamble S'Klallam tribe also!

[derekl1963.livejournal.com]

Isn't there considerable highway noise?

Olympic College

[centaur11.livejournal.com]

Were you able to make contact with the Poulsbo property owner (between Olympic College and Walmart)? Looks plenty big enough to me...