Port, fiber company partner on Malden and Pine City project
WSU steam plant renovation planning will be paid for with $200,000 grant
With grant funding and a partnership with Ziply Fiber, the Port of Whitman County is working toward building fiber-optic networks in and around Pine City and Malden nearly a year after wildfire destroyed both towns.
The Port of Whitman County recently received a $1.7 million grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Community Economic Revitalization Board to design and construct fiber around the two towns to bring residents high-speed internet.
“The port applied for CERB funding to build fiber in Pine City and then the outskirts of Pine City and Malden,” port Chief Operating Officer Kara Riebold said during a meeting with the Whitman County Commissioners on Monday. “Ziply Fiber is committed to building in Pine City itself. It’s their territory. And so their commitment allowed us to change our project just a little bit to reach farther out around those areas.”
The total cost of the project for the port is estimated to be $2,168,651. The design for the work is underway.
Ziply is also in partnership with the Port of Whitman County building fiber-optic networks in Rosalia, Garfield, Oakesdale, Palouse and Tekoa later this year.
During Monday’s meeting with the commissioners, Riebold also gave a quick update on the project to renovate and repurpose the 94-year-old steam plant on Washington State University’s campus.
The port recently applied for $50,000 from CERB to fund the planning scope of the project.
This port also received a $200,000 grant in May from the Washington Department of Ecology to fund a feasibility study on the steam plant.
The port and WSU are working toward transforming the steam plant into a usable site for the university and Pullman.
For example, possible uses described in the port’s application to the Department of Ecology include a ground-floor restaurant that would collaborate with WSU’s School of Food Science and two mezzanine floors that would be the site of a “commercialization center” with office and lab space where researchers and graduate students could work on marketable concepts. The application also mentions an event center in the parking lot.
“It’s a long-term project, but one that could be very worthwhile,” said Port of Whitman County Commissioner Tom Kammerzell on Monday.
Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.
