Yacolt Mayor Ian Shealy highlighted the efforts by 20th District Representatives Peter Abbarno and Ed Orcutt as the town is now closer than ever to having a community center, thanks to major state funding.
Shealy also highlighted the success of recent public safety infrastructure projects, which have made the community of Yacolt safer, in an interview with The Reflector.
Shealy emphasized that resident involvement has been especially notable in the Yacolt community, particularly surrounding the proposed community center. More than 200 residents submitted letters and emails in support of the project, demonstrating what Shealy described as a strong and unified desire to see the facility become a reality. That level of outreach helped elevate the conversation among decision-makers and underscores the importance of sustained public input moving forward, she highlighted.
“My main thoughts on it is I am super proud of and grateful for the fact that we had over 200 citizens that wrote letters and emails to our representatives in support of trying to get a community center,” Shealy said. “It’s a big lift and a lot of people have a desire for it to happen.”
Community Center funding secured
In the short state legislative session, the town of Yacolt was one of the biggest winners in Southwest Washington, having received $772,000 in state funds secured for the vision of acquiring the former site of the Yacolt Community Church for a community center.
Shealy deeply thanked Abbarno and Orcutt for their advocacy at the state level.
“It means a lot when representatives step up and fight for a small community to have a community center, you know,” Shealy said. “In the grand scheme of state operations, little old Yacolt is not necessarily on their radar. But Peter Abbarno (and Orcutt) really did champion this thing all the way through.”
While no set timeline has been established for the community center, Shealy indicated that continued engagement with the community and regional partners will be necessary to fully realize the vision.
“Over the next couple of months, we’re going to hold meetings for citizens to come and give recommendations on what they really want, but some of the ideas that we have are bringing in Meals and On Wheels,” Shealy said. “... We’ve had lots of interest expressed for it being a place for a senior center.”
Over the last couple of years, Shealy has heard from the senior community in Yacolt and surrounding areas about the desire to have a gathering space for classes, meetings and different events.
Shealy also said there are plans to convert the church sanctuary into a gymnasium for basketball, volleyball, pickleball, etc. The community center concept has also been approached by addiction service counseling, citizens who are in medical fields, youth programs and more.
“So there’s a lot of community-focused services that are offering this stuff up and to use that building,” Shealy said. “We’re also going to be opening it up for people to rent it like any community center and use it.”
Shealy said the state funding will go towards purchasing the property and obtaining the building. After that initial step, he added that the town will look towards estimates for renovations.
“In theory, once we have possession of it, it’s going to be open for use by the community, but what renovations we do on it, funding from the state is not going to be available until the summertime,” Shealy said, adding that the community center will serve as a key winter warming shelter while renovations likely occur. “It’s a big deal to have a turnkey building already versus having to find millions of dollars to build something somewhere …”
Yacolt’s security cameras in public spaces a success so far
While there may be no official data on whether vandalism and mayhem in a small town are up or down at the moment, word of mouth and dollars spent on fixes are a crucial solidifier.
“Before, I was dealing with complaints all the time and public works was dealing with nonstop vandalism that was costing the town $2,000 to $3,000 per month,” Shealy said. “And since (the cameras) went up and were turned on, it’s been nowhere close because the cameras are at each park. The main form of vandalism that we still run into is just issues with the bathrooms, where kids will go into the bathrooms and break stuff, but there's not much you can do with that, you know. Cameras are outside, nothing is inside, so it just happens when it happens.”
In a 2025 interview with Shealy, he said cameras facing roadways will be 4K resolution and 360 degrees, with the ability to follow and zoom in when remotely accessed. In the parks, the town will install 2K-resolution cameras, which Shealy ensured are high-quality as well.
The security camera implementation is also another example of the community coming together as an internet provider helped with the installation at no cost to the community.
“A big shout out for that is Zing Broadband,” Shealy said. “They helped install everything at no cost and provided the fiber internet for the connections between the parts for the cameras to run. And they provided that all at no cost to the community.”
Shealy added that he has seen a change in the community's tone for the better over the last year and a half.
“We’ve had a lot of citizens and business owners that have been stepping up and being part of the community again,” he said. “And to me, that’s awesome because people are investing in where they live.”
