New Urban Center: A Question of When

Beginning in June, the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) convened a series of four focus groups to talk about central issues raised in our strategic planning process.  The second meeting revolved around the idea of a new urban center and which configuration would best meet KCC's needs.  We broke into small groups, where we considered five different facilities currently on the market.  The idea behind this focus group was to begin to see where the community's priorities lay: a smaller center we could use in the short term, a more expansive center that would accommodate more functions as KCC grows, or some combination of the two.  

One thing that wasn't explicitly on the agenda was when we might pursue a new urban center.  It has been the policy of the board that we first raise all funds necessary to complete the long retreat cloister at Ser Cho Osel Ling; the SPC has therefore been operating under the assumption that this is at least months and probably years in the future.  Yet the opportunity to buy the St Mark's building two blocks from KCC got some members of the sangha excited.  In an email to the Community listserv, one member wrote:

And yet for me, as a relatively new member of seven years or so, the contemplation of an expanded urban center has ignited excitement, enthusiasm, and a heart-felt passion that says YES! We CAN do this! We MUST do this! Our Monroe Street home is a place where we go to sit, to receive superb teachings, and to feel somewhat connected to other practitioners. But it’s not a place where we go to get to know one another very easily. We squish into the kitchen for tea, and hope to find a seat for the potluck lunch on the 1st Sunday of the month.

KCC's current urban center was designed to be a residence, not a meeting place.  It's too small and the configuration doesn't work.  This isn't a new situation, either--the sangha outgrew its current home sometime in the mid-1990s, and that's when members first started talking about moving.  Yet there are also serious challenges to moving.  Next spring, the first of the long retreats begins at SCOL.  We've been building facilities in Goldendale since 2000, and the prospect of launching another major initiative is daunting.  Moving to a new home will cost money and consume enormous volunteer effort.  If KCC were to decide to go into debt to finance the move--something it hasn't done in Goldendale--it would create a new level of financial risk.  Even as some people express excitement at the prospect, others have misgivings; at the financial resources focus group, one small group returned with the recommendation to delay finding a new center for those reasons.

When KCC began exploring the idea of building a rural retreat center in the late 1990s, it seemed like a pipe dream.  Inspirations sprang from the enthusiasm of a small group, and over time, the center continued to discuss it and dream about it.  KCC set up a planning committee to study the possibility.  In 1999, a large contingent from Portland visited Mirik and discussed the prospect with Bokar Rinpoche, who encouraged us to pursue it. By the time the community met for its annual sangha meeting after that trip, almost everyone at the center was behind the plan.

That was a fascinating real-time experiment.  None of us knew anything about running a retreat center, and only a tiny fraction of us had any direct experience with extended retreat.  At the time, it seemed like such a facility would only be used by a small portion of the sangha.  And yet, by the time we decided to pursue it, nearly the entire community (90% or more) had coalesced behind the plan.  What followed was one of the most remarkable projects I've ever witnessed--that a center our size could raise funds and build a state-of-the-art, multimillion-dollar facility is unbelievable.

By comparison, finding a new urban center seems like small potatoes.  But only by comparison.  In the event, it will require a huge amount of effort by dozens of volunteers, a new campaign to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, and months of work and transition.  KCC has proven we are eminently capable of managing a project like this, but the sangha has to fully support it first.  Most things in a small volunteer organization happen when there are champions to make sure they happen.  On the SPC, we're doing our best to assess the energy and support for a new center--that will go a long way toward answering the question of when.  The KCC Board of Directors recently confirmed that we need to complete fundraising on SCOL before pursuing a new urban center.  Whether we begin looking for a place immediately thereafter or wait--this remains a real puzzle.

We'll have to just keep talking to each other.


The posts on this blog have been written to reflect the intention and work of the Strategic Planning Committee.  This post, written by Jeff Alworth, has more editorial content and may not reflect the opinion of the strategic planning committee.