Dumas Bay report: bookings and revenue rising; city commits to install memorial ‘wind phone’ within 30 days

Dumas Bay Center management reported increasing conference and lodging revenue and higher facility usage and told the committee the city will install the community’s requested wind phone memorial within 30 days after earlier scheduling delays.

Manager David Clements presented year‑to‑date figures showing conference and lodging revenue of $326,000, catering revenue of $106,000, food and beverage revenue of $47,000 and miscellaneous revenue of $17,000 for a total of $498,000 through the reporting period. Clements said monthly averages and usage days were rising, with retreats and theater usages showing increases in July and August. He highlighted a range of civic and community bookings — from grief‑support programs to community knitting groups — and said that next weekend multiple parts of the building will be in simultaneous use (conference rooms, rehearsal hall, basement, theater), an operational milestone for the center.

Clements addressed a long‑standing community request to install a ‘wind phone’ memorial on the property. He said the project had slipped past earlier target dates (Memorial Day and Labor Day) because of competing projects and staff capacity, but that the mayor and city administrator set a 30‑day deadline and that the city will install the wind phone within that timeframe.

Clements also said an RFQ is being prepared for a full building assessment of the Dumas Bay facility and that more detail will come as the procurement advances. He closed the presentation with day‑to‑day operational notes and a request for continued support for the center’s diverse programming.