Partnerships for a Public Service Campus

The rehabilitation of Building 987 was possible with support from the US Forest Service, a land-managing agency within the Department of Agriculture. The Gifford Pinchot National Forest office is now the tenant in this building.

NPS Photo

The goal of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site’s 2012 Master Plan is to create a public service campus for the local community and for visitors. To accomplish this, Fort Vancouver NHS partnered with local agencies and organizations to find creative ways to adapt and reuse barracks buildings.

Building 987 and the Forest Service

In 2014, Fort Vancouver and Gifford Pinchot National Forest announced the forest would move its headquarters into Building 987. This was a win-win-win for the NPS, the Forest Service, and for the public:

• The Forest Service saves money by reducing its rental space to fit staff needs.
• The revenue from leasing is invested back into public lands, helping to restore and repurpose historic structures and lands that belong to the public.
• The new location provides higher visibility to Gifford Pinchot National Forest, whose former headquarters was located off a highway interchange several miles outside downtown Vancouver.

Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Gifford Pinchot National Forest encompasses 1.3 million acres of trails, camping, wildlife, and more in southern Washington.

Building 987 was constructed in 1906 as an Army barracks. Its most recent use was as a training base for the Army Reserve 104th Division and Washington National Guard, but it had been vacant since 2010. The National Park Service completely renovated the space in anticipation of its new tenants, with a new roof and interior, increased energy efficiency, and removal of asbestos and lead. The work was done while preserving the building’s historic character, including restored ceiling tiles, original wood floors, and woodwork in the building.

The upper floor of Building 987, post-rehabilitation, retains some of the open floor plan that this space would have had when it was a soldiers’ barracks.

NPS Photo

Building 728 and Indian Affairs

The next public agency to move in was the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Northwest Regional Office, who signed a 20-year lease in 2018 for Building 728. This building was originally built in 1941 as the U.S. Army finance office, where payroll was processed for soldiers and employees of the U.S. Army. It now seats around 25 BIA employees in the Office of Justice Services and Office of Self Governance, whose work upholds and supports Tribal sovereignty – a poignant chapter in the long history of Native people living in this area.

As with Building 987’s rehabilitation, NPS preserved Building 728’s historic features while upgrading plumbing, mechanical, and electrical systems and improving energy efficiency and accessibility.

From off-limits to fully accessible

In an article in The Columbian, Fort Vancouver Superintendent Tracy Fortmann explained the significance of this shift from unused, underused, or unmaintained buildings to a public service campus: “For 160 years, most of [this property] has been off limits. Now this is an inviting place for the public.”

People can now use this space for learning, working, and playing, and there’s still more to come. Read about how Fort Vancouver NHS is ensuring everyone is included in day-to-day use of the site.