Welcome to the Ritzville Horizons Blog

Welcome to Ritzville, Adams County, Washington and our Horizons project. This is our communication page. Check back periodically because things will be changing and you won't want to miss any of the exciting activities.

Mayor Calls Community Workshop

Mayor Linda Kadlec has called together a dozen civic groups from the community in an effort to identify and prioritize projects that are critical for Ritzville's survival.

Mayor Kadlec is hoping to bring the community together and create a unified effort toward revitalizing Ritzville. The Mayor plans to emphaize the need for teamwork.

The workshop planned for Monday, March 23rd is open to the public.

BBCC Hosts Luncheon

Dr. William Bonaudi, President of BBCC, will be hosting a luncheon on Wednesday, February 25th, at the American Legion Hall in Ritzville. Dr. Bonaudi will be presenting information about the services available through BBCC. After lunch he and four other staff members of BBCC will facilitate several small focus groups.

The focus groups are an effort to further define the need for secondary education in Ritzville and the surrounding communities of Lind and Washtucna. The luncheon and focus groups are a follow-up to the surveys circulated last summer.

The Ritzville PDA in partnership with the Ritzville Horizons group has proposed a distance learning center to be administered by BBCC. $10,000 in scholarship money is available for Ritzville students as soon as the center is open to the public.

Welcome to our town??

Ritzville has always been known as Eastern Washington's best kept secret. We'd like to change that. The Ritzville Public Development Authority (PDA) is hoping to do just that. Washington State University's Interdisciplinary Design Institute (WSU IDI) will present four proposed solutions to our signage and identity problem.

On Friday, December 12, the WSU IDI students will present their ideas to the community. Everyone is invited to attend. We are hoping to have a good group of community members present to stimulate some dialog.

By inviting visitors to our community and making them feel welcome when they get here, it is the hope of the PDA to stimulate some economic development opportunities.

Come join in the discussion. Be a part of the solution.

Keeping the Dream Alive

On November 20, 2008, six WSU IDI graduate students came to town and offered solutions to the senior housing problem in Ritzville. Each student presented their vision for apartments in the old Ritzville Hotel.

The designs ranged from small studio apartments to larger one and two bedroom units. The students also allowed for some common areas to provide space for socialization.

Additionally the building will house a small exercise room, computer room, and other amenities including a walking path on the roof with an organic garden.

While the designs were a class project, they will certainly be a valuable resource to any prospective developer. The students interviewed many seniors from the community to determine what their wants and needs are. By providing this information to the developer, it will help to ensure a more successful project.

Imagine living in downtown Ritzville within walking distance to the library, bank, post office, grocery and drug store, not to mention a birds eye view for all community parades and activities.

BBCC Surveys

BBCC has published a survey in the Adams County Journal asking for your interests and needs in reference to the proposed distance learning center. Please fill out the surveys and return as soon as possible. It is important that this project meet the needs of the community.