What you see is what you get in Ferndale
All-American image is backed up by businesses, individuals

 

Sometimes it seems as if Ferndale emerged fully formed from the imagination of beloved American illustrator Norman Rockwell. Choose just about any scene from around town and it would fit nicely on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.

Yes, Ferndale faces the same problems as any other town of its size, but there’s a mid-fifties, middle-American ambiance about the place that is far more than just an image. There is also a can-do, help-your-neighbor spirit that is no less pervasive.

The Ferndale Boys and Girls Club recently held a fundraising auction that netted $110,000. Any professional fundraiser can tell you that is an astounding figure coming from a town of just under 8,000.

“Ferndale is really like that,” according to Linda Mooney, assistant vice president at the local Key Bank branch. “There is a strong sense of volunteerism. Many residents have lived here a long time or grew up here. It’s a hard-working community.”

Bill Rollins owns Ferndale Drug and came to the town from Orange County, California. The contrast, he says, still amazes him.

“It comes down to people knowing each other,” Rollins says. “You recognize the people you see in the stores.”

There is a serene confidence among Ferndale residents that the inevitable growth in the area will not change that essential nature.

Some would attribute it to the town’s blue-collar roots. Two major refineries and an aluminum smelter just west of town provide a massive employment base, although they are outside the actual city limits. As corporate citizens, however, BP, Phillips 66, and Intalco seem as firmly rooted in the Ferndale spirit as any individual. You’ll see their corporate logos stamped on just about any community event you can name.

Ferndale residents seem to accept that the price of such corporate largesse is a certain amount of pollution and traffic congestion. There has also been some serious uncertainty surrounding the future of Alcoa Intalco Works.

The huge aluminum smelting operation requires an enormous amount of electricity. Last year’s volatile power market caused sharp price increases and threats of power outages. Alcoa, the parent of Intalco, was faced with what could become a very unprofitable situation.

Rather than shutting down the facility permanently, Alcoa adopted a wait-and-see approach. Under a unique agreement with the Bonneville Power Administration, Intalco shut down operations temporarily, thus freeing power resources that may have averted the type of disaster seen in California.

Some Intalco employees took early retirement, but most were laid off at full pay. During the layoff, the community-spirited Intalco workers put in thousands of hours volunteering their skills at non-profit organizations throughout the county. It was a win-win solution that typified the spirit of Ferndale.

The Intalco works is in the process of restarting and a lot of local folks are breathing a bit more easily. The double-whammy of the Intalco layoffs and September 11 may have had a substantial economic impact, but it didn’t dampen the characteristic Ferndale optimism.

“Spending was pretty regular prior to the Intalco shutdown,” said Rollins. “Then people got a little conservative, saving and putting money away. With the restart, spending is slowly increasing. I expect it will be back to normal by Christmas.”

Two major tests of that Ferndale resiliency are on the agenda. The most immediate is the long-awaited “Main Street Project.” An aging bridge that carries Main Street over the Nooksack River is overdue for seismic retrofitting. Since there is no way to do that without causing a major disruption to the central business district, city planners decided to renovate Main Street on both sides of the bridge at the same time. The theory is that one major discombobulation is better than several small ones. Main Street merchants are taking it with remarkable equanimity.

The major worry seems to be that if local residents get in the habit of using detour routes during construction, they may stay with them once the dust has settled. For its part, the city has promised to do everything in its power to minimize the impact on Main Street businesses. The one thing it won’t do is ease downtown traffic congestion very much.

East of the bridge, from LaBounty Drive to the river, the roadway will be widened, resurfaced, and sidewalks and streetlights will be added. That part of the project will also include a stormwater retention pond, which will allow pollutants to settle from runoff before it is returned to the Nooksack.

In addition to the seismic improvements, the bridge will be widened, resurfaced, and repainted. Ferndale residents and visitors alike have complained for years that they can’t see the river when crossing the bridge. That situation will be improved somewhat with less intrusive steel barriers on the bridge approach. The steel girder plates blocking the view from the bridge itself are crucial to the structure and cannot be removed.

West of the bridge, in the core downtown area, the roadway will be totally reconstructed with bike lanes and curb “bulbs” added. These are bulges at intersections, which will allow pedestrians to see oncoming traffic without leaving the safety of the sidewalk. The only thing that could substantially improve the traffic situation in this area would be a widening of the roadway. Unfortunately, widening the road here is not feasible. Instead, the traffic lights will be changed from timed to vehicle-actuated. According to the city, this will increase the overall “traffic rating” of the street, but won’t have the kind of impact widening would have.

As in all small towns, rumors about the commencement of the Main Street project are rampant. They range from “next week” to “next year.”

“The final permit for the project has gone to the state department of transportation,” according to public works director Loren Sperry. “From there, it has to go to the federal highway administration before funds can be released. No major work will take place before next year.”

The other project that may have a powerful influence on Ferndale’s future is the proposed Pioneer Plaza complex. Situated just east of I-5 adjacent to the Main Street exit, the developers hope to attract two “anchor” stores, a supermarket, and a number of retail shops.

In addition, the plans call for residential units over retail spaces, restaurant pads, a hotel, conference center and a number of spaces allotted for various civic uses. It should be noted that the proposed complex would not be a mall in the sense of Bellis Fair. The site plan concept is more reminiscent of Seattle’s University Village or Bellingham’s Barkley Village.

“It would be nice to have a flagship retailer in Ferndale,” says Mooney, chamber of commerce president. “We don’t have a place to buy a necktie or a pair of shoes. This development could help us keep that trade in Ferndale.”

How realistic is it that the developer can fill up all that new retail space?

“If they build it,” says Mooney, “they will come.”

Ferndale Drug owner Rollins isn’t too worried about the impact on downtown merchants.

“I don’t think it’s that big a deal,” Rollins said. “It will have an impact for the first two or three months. People flock to something new because it’s different. Sometimes these developments even help existing businesses. Small businesses will survive if they concentrate on personal service.”

There is general agreement that the proposed development would help pull motorists off I-5 who would otherwise pass on through. Once off the interstate, people might take the time to explore further.

“It will certainly have a positive impact on the tax base,” said Kathy Chasteen, chamber manager “because it’s located within the city limits. We need those retail sales taxes badly.”

Again, the rumor mill is grinding away over just when the project will get underway. Original plans called for breaking ground this spring, but a number of complications have set the schedule back.

Some local businesspeople would blame it on the city permitting process, which, they claim, is agonizingly slow. When challenged, however, they generally admit that it’s probably no worse than any other similar community.

That trademark Ferndale optimism comes through strongly when people speculate about the future of their town.

“The growth we are seeing now is healthy,” Mooney says. “It would take astronomical growth to ruin that hometown feeling. We still have lots of open land.”

Mooney gestured toward the west end of town.

“Go over that hill at the end of Main Street,” she said, “and you’re in the country. We’re sandwiched between Vancouver and Seattle. People who want a city environment will go there. Those who don’t will come here.”

Mooney foresees Ferndale having an identity as strong as Lynden or Leavenworth.

“We might become known as ‘Flag City,’” she speculated.

It wouldn’t take much to achieve that goal. Old-fashioned patriotism is very much a part of the Ferndale character. There’s a highly visible smokestack behind the Carnation-Oxford Building on East Main. In the wake of 9-11, Ferndale residents raised more than $6,000 to have the American flag on the landmark repainted.

Last year’s terrorist attacks inspired the local Kiwanis club to line both sides of Main Street in the downtown core with American flags. For months, they were put out every morning and taken in every evening. Now, they are back to being displayed on the usual national holidays, with one exception. The flags always go out on the 11th of each month.

Police cars in Ferndale are painted with an American flag motif and most people think the police do a pretty good job. They do, however, think the department needs a new facility. Plans for that are well underway.

Chamber manager Chasteen says attracting new businesses to Ferndale is not all that tough. Things may have slowed down a bit after 9-11, but the inquiries are coming in again. The schools make her job easier.

“We have a fabulous school system,” Chasteen said. “Five of the schools have won national awards of excellence.”

Her “gut feeling” is that Ferndale is doing just fine. Ferndale Foods recently reopened the former Ferry Brothers meat processing facility. The business employs more than 100 people. Intalco, as mentioned, is making aluminum again. The economy as a whole is gradually pulling out of the post 9-11 recession.

Ferndale plays host to a multitude of events annually that serve to draw the attention of outsiders. Local businesses support these events with enthusiasm and there is a willingness to try new things.

In a recent survey of businesses conducted for the City of Ferndale and the Port of Bellingham by BST Associates of Bothell, the factor most cited as interfering with growth was traffic congestion.

Main Street, as noted, is not easily widened in the downtown core. Some of the suggested solutions include redesigning the Portal Way exit from I-5 just north of town. That could offer a reasonable alternative for accessing the downtown core if the awkward ingress and egress from I-5 can be fixed.

Just south of town, Smith Road crosses I-5 on an overpass that does not offer access to the interstate. When I-5 was built, Ferndale was not expected to grow as much as it has. Construction of on and off-ramps would be relatively simple and could do much to alleviate the congestion at the Main Street exit.

Ferndale offers a host of desirable features for attracting new business. Given the can-do spirit of the people and the desire to grow in a healthy fashion, it is likely that the problems will be solved.

There is, of course, that 600-pound gorilla tossing and turning just to the south. Historically, Bellingham has shown a propensity for swallowing up smaller communities. Will Ferndale eventually lose its identity to a Greater Bellingham?

“Not in my lifetime,” said Mooney.

Such determination is not without precedent. Mooney and her fellow employees at Key Bank recently had a difference of opinion with some higher-ups about retaining a metal sculpture donated to the bank by a local artist. The employees feel that it embodies the spirit of their town. They won the argument. The sculpture stays.