The building on Guthrie Road that the Park District bought in 2023, long known
as the Guthrie Center, was recently renamed Rick Anderson Place. The Park
Board chose the new name in May 2026 to honor Rick Anderson, who served fifty
years as a parks commissioner, from 1975 until his retirement in December
2025, and who was central to acquiring the building in the first place.
The building itself is the same one the District has been working to renovate
since the purchase. It sits on a 2.39-acre property next to Lowell Johnson
Park, the swimming hole.
What it will hold
The ground floor is leased to the Anderson Island Lutheran Church for its
congregation. The upper floor is set to become the Park District’s own office
and meeting room, which it currently lacks, alongside the new home of the
Anderson Island Community Fitness Center, which operates today out of the
historic one-room schoolhouse.
Why it is taking so long
The upper floor was permitted back in the 1980s but never built out, so the
District is essentially starting from scratch under current building codes.
Getting there has meant working through Pierce County planning, building,
engineering, health, and fire review, a process that ran close to two years.
Partway through, the county switched to sequential permitting, state first,
then county, which stretched the timeline further.
The District attained its Washington Department of Health permit in fall 2025.
As of May 2026, crews are in the final stages of connecting the building to
the Class A well at the neighboring swimming hole, which is the reason that
park is closed for the season (see our separate update).
When it opens
There is no firm date. The District says the upper floor could open as early
as summer 2027, or the work could extend into 2028. The Fitness Center is
separately raising about $75,000 toward its move. We will post updates here as
the project clears its remaining permits.