Anacortes, Port approve interlocal agreements to build waterfront event center

At a joint special meeting Aug. 18, 2025, the Anacortes City Council and the Port of Anacortes Commission approved interlocal cooperative agreements to design, build and operate a proposed waterfront event center at the Cap Sante Marina development area.

The agreements, signed at the end of the meeting, commit the city and port to share design costs, pursue grants and other funding, and for the port to construct adjacent public-access infrastructure; city and port elected officials said the goal is to have the facility open in 2028 if design and funding proceed as planned.

Mayor Miller said the discussion was about more than a building: “An event space has a potential to be more than just walls and a roof,” she said, framing the project as a community gathering place and tourism asset. Port Executive Director John DeMoss told the joint meeting the design brief emphasizes downtown access and a 400-person capacity, and that the port will pursue grants and use a mix of operational revenue and tax funding to pay for site infrastructure.

Background and scope The idea of an event center at the waterfront traces to planning work in the 2010s and a series of joint Port–City discussions since 2021. City and port officials said prior planning and public outreach informed the current concept. The facility design under discussion calls for a main event space sized for roughly 400 people at 8-person round tables, a…