Pedersen moves foward on community center plans

SANDPOINT — His planned community center has yet to earn council approval, but local developer Bruce Pedersen is charging forward on all aspects of the project.

Pedersen announced his plans in early May for the Jamie Packer Centre, which would span nearly two city blocks from Boyer Avenue to a half-block from Fifth Avenue, and from Oak Street to Church Street. It would feature an indoor hockey rink, a three-story, 90,000-square-foot parking structure and 135,000 square feet of mixed-use space, including commercial and housing units.

The former St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, located on Oak Street, would remain intact, although the rectory would be demolished.

Pedersen said he wants the project to be on the cutting edge of building design, and he recently teamed up with Sandpoint’s Vapor Locomotive Company to develop a completely self-sufficient energy source.

Matt Janssen, CEO of Vapor Locomotive, is designing an on-site cogeneration energy system that would provide heat and electricity for the center.

The system would create energy by burning locally or regionally obtained woody biomass, such as wood pellets.

Cogeneration, also called combined heat and power, has a number of environmental and financial benefits, mostly stemming from its incredible efficiency, Janssen said.

“A utility power plant only has about a 30 to 40 percent efficiency in the generation of electricity because they don’t have a use for the heat residual,” he said. “Our combined cycle efficiency could be anywhere between 70 to 90 percent, depending on how we do it.”

Pedersen said the decision to bypass natural gas and on-the-grid electricity in favor of cogeneration comes from a desire to be environmentally friendly, as well as being business savvy.

“There’s got to be a better way, and an opportunity like this to not just follow but kind of lead some of these trends that are happening nationally,” he said. “Living where we do, where biomass is in abundance and is a renewable resource, it just seems to make a lot of sense. It gives us a link to the area’s timber heritage as well, so, intuitively, it feels right.”

Janssen said wood heating systems are fairly common — especially in schools — but cogeneration is only now beginning to pick up steam in America. He said the practice is exploding in Europe, and much of the woody biomass being used has been exported from America.

“It’s a real shame that we’re basically exporting one of our natural resources and then buying back Saudi Arabia’s natural resources to run our systems with,” Janssen said.

While he will continue to move forward on all aspects of the project, Pedersen’s work will be for naught if the city does not grant his zoning requests.

Pedersen is slated to go before the Planning Commission later this month to present his plan for the site. He would then most likely go before the full council in June to request a rezone for the property.

 He’s seeking a change from Residential B zoning to the more intensive Residential C, as well as asking for Professional Office zoning for a portion of the lot. He will also ask the council to vacate a city-owned alley on the property.

Before that, Pedersen said he will meet with concerned homeowners in the neighborhood in an attempt to allay their fears about the project.

For more information on the center, call 946-4391 or visit jpcentre.org