Thousands of people have tiptoed across its high beam, scaled its sheer wall, and dangled in space as they reached for their courage.
Now it is the future of the character-building ropes course near Coupeville that is left hanging.
Island County Health Department, which manages the course, cut funding for the ropes course to save $50,000 in a tight budget year. Now the outdoor facility, which has challenged nearly 15,000 people over the past decade, has been shut down.
“There is no plan for opening it,” Ropes course director Ben Gilmore said.
A group of people interested in reviving the course met Thursday to brainstorm alternate funding options.
At the meeting a plan was put forth to transfer administration of the ropes course solely to the Washington State University Extension Service office in Coupeville. Doing so would allow the course to qualify for private grants that cannot go to a public agency like Island County.
Jennifer Lail, of Langley, said WSU was willing to take over the course, if funding can be found.
“We are committed to making this happen,” she said.
Don Meehan, WSU department chair, Island County, is also enthusiastic about keeping the program alive.
“The challenge is, it’s going to take significant funding to keep it going,” he said.
Lail estimates they will seek $35,000 from grants, individual donors or community groups.
Originally designed for youth-at-risk programs, Meehan said the course is ideal for promoting self-esteem and self-confidence, important weapons in the war against drugs.
The course has been operating in partnership with the WSU Extension office’s 4-H Challenge Program and Island County Parks, which provided the land.
Located in a small area of woodland off Patmore Road, the ropes course is a collection of creative obstacles which require team work and intestinal fortitude to conquer. There is a cable-suspended balancing beam, a 12-foot wall, a single log crossing high in the trees and several other stations that challenge the mind and require individuals to trust a group to make it across, over or through them safely.
Jackie Henderson, director of the health department’s human services division, said ropes course staff have known the budget cut was coming, but there wasn’t much to be done about it.
“This is not something that just happened,” she said.
Restrictions on how state Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse grant money, previously used to fund the course, can be used have become more stringent. Now the funds may only go to activities and programs “scientifically proven” to combat substance abuse, Henderson said.
User fees charged by the course — $5 to $8 a head for children, $15 to $25 a head for adults, and course fees — will not cover expenses.
Meehan said they are reluctant to consider raising prices to keep the course alive, noting that the users who need it most are the ones who can afford it the least.
Heading the ropes course since 1997, Gilmore said he knew the course’s funding source was tenuous because of who was putting up the money. Most courses around the state have private non-profit status.
“It’s very unusual to have health department funding,” he said.
Serving school, Navy, business, church and service groups every year, the course has a large number of stakeholders who will want to use the course in the future, Gilmore said.
“We hope the community can help to ensure the course stays viable,” Meehan said. “This is a valuable community asset.”
