Science and Learning Center at Coldwater

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  Nobody Special (guest)

  Better go see it soon - they're closing it down! Heralded as a worthy gateway for Mount St. Helens, the $11.5 million Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center featured state-of-the-art displays just eight miles from the volcano’s crater. Two members of Congress joined the chief of the U.S. Forest Service and hundreds of guests who crowded into the atrium, down the hall and out the front door. Cars filled all 350 parking spaces, and they lined a half-mile of the newly reconstructed Spirit Lake Memorial Highway. On an overcast day last week, Ted Stubblefield stood in the visitor center’s empty atrium and recalled those better times. Stubblefield, who retired eight years ago as the supervisor of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and now lives in the Ridgefield area, served as master of ceremonies for the grand opening on May 15, 1993. He’s disappointed that the Forest Service, now strapped for cash, has chosen to permanently close the center after the last visitor leaves on Nov. 5.

  18 years ago | reply | hide comment