WASHOUGAL — With its building up for sale, The Outpost has announced it will have to close.
Housed in a former church along E Street, The Outpost has morphed into a community resource center since its launch in 2017, hosting events and local organizations, offering meeting rooms for rent, and housing kids activities and a teen leadership camp.
“We hope to turn this space into a true community center one day,” Washougal resident and longtime volunteer Pam Clark wrote on the website. “With help and support, we can make a difference here.”
That help and support never arrived.
The Camas Church of the Nazarene and Tumwater-based Washington Pacific District Church of the Nazarene, the building’s owners, have put the location up for sale.
The Outpost will close Oct. 31, according to Clark.
News of the decision came as a blow to Clark, The Outpost’s unofficial leader, who has toiled diligently the past few years to make it into a “safe space” for people of all ages to gather, collaborate and help east Clark County thrive.
“It hurt me a lot,” Clark said. “I was running a bazaar, and I got this telephone call.”
Washougal resident Sandra Renner, who has spearheaded the development of children’s programs and Hispanic community offerings, said she approached Camas Church of the Nazarene leaders in 2021, asking them to let her know if they decide to put the building up for sale.
Renner said in 2021 she had investors that were willing to remodel the building, upgrade the kitchen, put in showers, install an outdoor community pool, develop a parking lot and build eight spaces for homeless youth.
“I told them all about it, showed them plans, and they said, ‘We’re just not ready for that. We’re not ready to do anything like that,’” Renner said.
When Clark called Renner to tell her about the sale, Renner said no one had contacted her.
“They knew that we were interested in it. They should have at least said, ‘This is the opportunity that you’re looking for, we’re deciding to go ahead and sell,’” Renner said, adding she hasn’t talked to investors so far because she would need a sale price for the property.
“I’ve been asking and asking and asking, ‘Do you even have a general idea,’” she said. “I’m embarrassed after the last time. They paid out good money for the plans, and to just be rejected hands down. I don’t want to go and approach any investors now without (the information we need).”
Clark said the best she can hope for is that the new owner will be willing to share some of the building to keep The Outpost going, albeit on a smaller scale.
“Give us half of it, or even a quarter,” Renner said.
Clark and Renner said that finding another location for The Outpost is possible but could be challenging.
“We’re willing to just go into another spot,” Renner added, “but it needs to be a spot that has easy access. This was as easy as you could get.”
A church closes
After the Washougal Church of the Nazarene closed in 2017, then-pastor Joe Crosby talked with his superiors about the future of the Washougal building, wondering if they should sell it or try to start a new church.
Crosby considered opening a ministry-outreach center, but when that plan failed to come to fruition, the building remained vacant.
Clark and Washougal residents Amy Smith and Michele Gregson saw a need for a space for organizations to come together to help the community and an opportunity.
“We all were very clear in what the future could hold with that building, and we just started running with it,” Smith said in 2022.
Renner said she’s grateful for the time the group had the building and got to use it.
“We have generated a friendship,” she said. “The community is a lot closer, and they do a lot for each other now.”
Gina Offe, an office administrator for Camas Church of the Nazarene, said that the church did not have any information about the sale of the property and referred a reporter to the Washington Pacific District Church of the Nazarene, which did not respond to requests for comment.
The Outpost is holding a month-long rummage sale in October. For more information, visit facebook.com/TheRealOutpost or washougaloutpost.org.
