A New Art and Natural Science Discovery Center
Since the beginning of our organization we’ve had a vision for a permanent space that can be used as a meeting and exhibit venue for promoting our mission of sharing the Lower Grand Coulee experience through arts and science education, exhibits and presentations. This space would be publicly available to other organizations with similar needs and purposes such as the Art Guild of the Soap Lake Area, Ice Age Floods Institute, Soap Lake Heritage, Soap Lake Conservancy, and Columbia Trails Association.
​
We have a restoration and usage agreement with the City of Soap Lake and a long-term lease. To date we’ve added a new roof, cleaned up some of the interior, refurbished exterior light fixtures and painted the front.  The new roof was a critical maintenance step that will allow for a longer-term restoration project. Without this work, the building would have been lost to disrepair. 
Watch the Transformation
​We're already making progress! Scroll through the slide show below to see improvements and final design concepts, or ​check out our video showing removal of a bee's nest.
Recent Developments with the Restoration Project
A project like this takes a great deal of time and planning. Much of the work is  "behind the scenes," or conducted deep inside the building structure where the work isn't visible. One of our goals is to make use of the building in a manner that provides some public benefit as much as is physically possible while restoration takes place. During the city of Soap Lake's 2019 centennial year, the building windows became a display space for centennial announcements, and the interior served as a staging area for Winterfest celebrations. Today, Ice Age Floods interpretive panels are on display behind the windows, along with a display of historical artifacts from the Great Canoe Race that took place in the Lower Grand Coulee between Park Lake and Soap Lake.

​Here's a summary of other tasks accomplished since our 2019 Gala celebration:
  • New fascia, gutters and drainage mitigation work
  • Roof repairs, removal of ceiling fixtures, ceiling sections, debris removal and vacuuming. 
  • Old HVAC ducting removed.
  • Relocated the heat pumps to the new roof.
  • Crawl space and basement cleared of debris and vacumed.
  • Structural assessment performed by G&O Engineers.
  • Gutter repair to east side of building complete.
  • Developing cost estimates for building facade replacement.
  • Tech Team meeting with state granting agencies in partnership with the City of Soap Lake.
  • Reviewing grant opportunities Washington Historical Society, Heritage Capital Projects program.

The James building "back in the day."
Friends of the Lower Grand Coulee is an exempt organization as described in
Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code; EIN 46-4201429