Aug 13 2009
Site Infrastructure Underway
For Release August 13, 2009
Washington State’s Walter Clore Wine & Culinary Center
Awards Infrastructure Construction Bid
Site Development to Begin August 2009 and
Ready for Outdoor Events Spring 2010
Prosser, Wash. – August 12, 2009 – Site development is underway at the future home of the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center located on a 23-acre site adjacent to the Yakima River, just off of I-82, in the heart of Columbia Valley wine country. In July, the Board of Directors unanimously awarded the infrastructure construction bid to Premier Excavation of Richland, Washington.
An Economic Development Initiative Grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds this phase of construction to include excavating and leveling the site, paving the parking area, extending all utilities, installing overhead lighting, hydro-seeding the outdoor event area and limited landscaping. The site, scheduled to be available for outdoor events beginning spring 2010, will be the new home of the Prosser Wine and Food Fair and setting for the 2010 Legends of Washington Wine Gala.
Plans for construction of the main facility will move forward with the success of a pending application for $2.5 million from the Federal Economic Development Administration Public Works Grant program and a $100,000 grant from Benton County in addition to $3.9 million committed public and private funds.
The Walter Clore Wine & Culinary Center, a tribute to the late Dr. Walter J. Clore, Father of the Washington Wine Industry, will be a centrally located, must-see learning center that promotes regional wine and food by actively engaging visitors to learn, experience and appreciate the quality and diversity of the region’s wine and food products.
