Oak Harbor’s efforts at historic preservation have been few and far between over the years, which is a lack of consistency the Harbor Pride group would like to remedy.

Harbor Pride is asking the community to help compile a listing of “unique aspects of our community that need preserving.”

The visual list will consist of photographs submitted by citizens, from now until the deadline on Sept. 5. People are asked to submit photos electronically or by regular mail, and include a brief description of the location and why the building or area should be saved.

Terry LeDesky, an architect and 17-year resident of Oak Harbor, said the goal is to provide the city with a resource to use in planning. Oak Harbor has no design review or historic review board, so Harbor Pride would at least like to let the city know what is historically important to its citizens.

Harbor Pride has tried to make the effort fun for people by turning it into a contest, with the winner receiving dinner for two at the new Frasers Gourmet Hideaway in downtown Oak Harbor. Images submitted will be entered into a drawing, with the prize going to the winner.

Submitted images will count as one vote each for the place or thing people value. The images with the most votes will help reveal what people think are the most important historic places in the Oak Harbor area. All images will be collected in a “historic property inventory” to be submitted to the city.

“We’ll at least have a document to discuss with developers,” LeDesky said. “As an architect I’m concerned about the sustainability of our community.”

LeDesky said the images submitted might be buildings of historic importance, or they could simply be scenes people would like to preserve. “It could just be a view,” he said, pointing out that new condos are threatening to obscure views of the water coming into the south side of town.

The city is too involved with other things, such as the downtown plan which Harbor Pride endorses, to undertake an inventory of historic places. No city funding is available for the project. “It’s off their radar,” LeDesky said. “It’s not even in their thinking.”

LeDesky said historic preservation is listed as a city goal, but it’s not codified. “The planning department can’t even talk about preservation,” he said. “It’s only a goal, and they’re bound to repeat only what is law. There is no historic ordinance in this community.”

Ultimately, LeDesky would like to see such an ordinance. This wouldn’t hamstring property owners as he sees it, but would qualify them for tax breaks when improving historic properties.

Steve Powers, Oak Harbor’s Development Services director, endorsed Harbor Pride’s effort. “A resource document available to us would have value,” he said. “We have no historic inventory.” That has been a goal of the city, Powers said, but there hasn’t been enough personnel to get it done.

However, Senior Planner Larry Cort was attending a conference in historic structures this week, and LeDesky has consulted him on Harbor Pride’s inventory effort.

“It’s a first step in the right direction,” Powers said.

A couple of LeDesky’s favorite threatened historic sites in Oak Harbor are the Calvary Chapel building on Ninth Avenue, which originated as a Lutheran Church. Plans are now underway to turn that property into condos. Another is an old Freund family house across from Blockbuster, now abandoned and largely obscured by foliage. “It’s rich in character and scale,” he said. He’d like to see it moved near the wetlands across the highway and turned into an interpretive center.

Harbor Pride has set a Sept. 5 deadline on the photo contest so the historic document can become a city resource before it’s too late. “Our goal is to create a credible document the city can use,” LeDesky said.

Picture our history

Here’s how to participate in the Historic Places and Things Photo Contest sponsored by Harbor Pride:

1. Submit images of places and things you love in the Oak Harbor vicinity such as buildings, sites and views, or unique architectural or landscape elements. Historic pictures are welcome.

2. Include a description of why the place or thing is a treasure, give its location or address, include the date the image was taken, and add your name and phone number so you will be eligible for the drawing in which the winner gets dinner for two at Frasers Gourmet Hideaway.

3. Submit digital images by e-mail to nwhphp@comcast.net. Mail hard copies to: Harbor Pride Treasures, 316 SE Pioneer Way #356, Oak Harbor WA 98277. No photos can be returned, but you can make an appointment to stop by and have your personal historic photographs scanned. Call 675-3936.