Will John Pope, president of the Anacortes Small Boat Center, foot the entire bill for everything members want in the facility?

Probably not.

But that was one of the scenarios played out at an architectural study on Sept. 10 at the Anacortes Yacht Club.

The approximately 40 participants divided into three groups — an austere or cheap design team, a moderate design team and a lavish design team — to work through a design exercise.

Each of the three design teams had a layout drawing/photograph of the North Basin of the Cap Sante Boat Haven, and scale models and paper to represent buildings and support elements. One of the models represented the Seafarers’ Memorial Park building participants were asked to consider in their designs.

“At the conclusion of the exercise the group was enthused that the various design efforts had many common features and each reflected sensitivity for the practical features needed in any small boat facility,” Pope said. “Emphasis in all plans was on increased public access and improvement of the marina for small boat users throughout the greater region.”

The Small Boat Center is a nonprofit group organized to provide access to local waters for small boaters. Members have already helped with recent upgrades at the marina including a small boat hoist going in at the P/Q dock.

“To put it in easy terms, we’re an umbrella organization,” Pope said. “We’re trying to speak with one voice.”

Last week’s meeting was attended by members of various small boat groups, including OARS, Venture Scout Crew 4081, the Anacortes Community Maritime Center and the Hole in the Wall Paddling Club, as well as by city parks director Gary Robinson and Executive Director Bob Hyde of the Port of Anacortes, which owns and operates the marina.

Hyde, who facilitated the meeting, began by asking attendees to imagine driving into the small boat center years from now and telling the others — no holds barred — everything they saw.

Some of the recommendations were a long-term boat building and restoration project area and a separate family boat repair area — both that would be open and inviting to the public to see what was going on. Other amenities included dry storage for kayaks and dingies, parking for off-loading trailers, a freshwater wash-down, low freeboard dock, classroom/meeting room, covered or ventilated storage area for wet sails, heated bathrooms with lockers and showers, and a maritime library.

Among the wish lists of the individual user groups were basic staging and launching needs for the Hole in the Wall kayak group, a place people could rent small boats as suggested by Robinson, a facility that encourages young sailors to take part in what’s going on as suggested by ASBC Vice-President Pat Barrett of the yacht club, and a central area for all the groups as opposed to lots of separate facilities as recommended by Scott Bullock of the ACMC.

The goal of the design exercise was to find a place for some of the elements mentioned and to create something together for everyone, Pope said.

Each of the teams’ layouts included the conceptual elements in the port’s comprehensive plan.

The lavish team, which Hyde suggested imagine Pope as a benefactor paying for all the amenities it could dream of, came up with a campus concept with multiple buildings.

A traditional boat repair building near the esplanade served as a tourist attraction point, while the main building near the gravel staging area in the northeast corner of the marina was full scale with more meeting room capability, storage, repair and support features. It also included a galley.

The team’s plan put the facility closer to the water than the other designs, incorporated several outside storage buildings and support areas, and fully developed the shore launch.

The austere design team members, who approached the project as if they were funding it all themselves, saved money by using a reclaimed building, placing it on a daylight basement foundation and tucking it in the eastern perimeter of the site.

The two-story building placed repair areas downstairs, a sail loft and lighter boat work areas upstairs, and would depend on the nearby Yacht Club or other venues for larger classroom and meeting areas.

The design included an outside gathering area, day parking for dingy and light boat trailers, a wash station and other amenities. An outside atrium was to be used by kayakers and boaters for small safety classes and a fenced storage yard in the northern part of the parking lot for small sailboats and racked kayaks and dinghies would generate revenue.

The moderate design team took a very similar layout approach, Pope said.

Spokesperson Beth Bell, ASBC Secretary and OARS member, pointed out that many of the features in their design stemmed from the extensive work done by the ASBC Feasibility Committee in 2008.

The design featured a building with separate shipwright for long-term projects and repair areas, storage areas, showers, bathrooms, meeting rooms, sail loft and storage lockers with kayak storage located along the perimeter.

It included day trailer and dolly parking in the strip between the parking lot and the gravel staging area, had two wash stations, an electric dolly charging station, more dinghy dock and covered boat structures in the marina, and a developed shore launch similar to that shown in the Port of Anacortes’ long-term plan, Pope said. The building was somewhat larger than the austere approach and the outside gathering amenities and other features were similar but more robust.

“It was expressed well by Garrett Johns that with the excellence of Fidalgo Bay as a small boat venue and the proximity to downtown businesses, this small boat center has the potential to be the most attractive of its kind on the Pacific Coast and would be a real economic benefit to Anacortes,” Pope said.

In addition to discussing the possible amenities of a small boat center, the meeting participants also took part in a SWOT exercise, which pointed out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the ASBC that could help or hinder it from becoming a reality.

Among the group’s strengths were the people involved, the demand, the natural beauty of the area and the “share the sandbox mentality,” Pope said.

The weaknesses included lack of money for the initial construction and ongoing operations and maintenance, the need for major dredging and sufficient parking, and the competing interests of the small boat groups.

Opportunities brought up included creating a tourist draw, an asset for the regional community of boat owners, a place for education and training, and the potential of becoming self-funding.

Threats included the potential lack of consensus among the boating groups, volunteer burnout and improper planning.

“Or we dream so grandiose we can’t afford our vision,” said David Jackson, who represents Crew 4081.

The relationship between the port and the city, which owns the land northeast of the marina, was brought up in the discussions of all four categories. People saw the relationship as it is now as a strength and an opportunity to work together, but also having the potential to become a weakness or a threat if competing interests of the two entities start to cause problems. Membership in the all-volunteer, nonprofit ASBC is $15 a year.  Members can be reached at Box 2164 or by contacting John Pope at .

Pope will distribute PDFs of the design studies to anyone interested, he said.