This is a view looking of an early conceptual drawing of The REQ Center and surrounding property development. The project plan is on going, so please check back for updates.

Digest quoted from the Chronicle, Saturday, December 15. For the full text of the article, visit www.chronline.com

"The Lewis County Public Facilities District has approved a Regional Equestrian Center proposal as its primary project. The move was expected, as no other project proposal has come before the PFD.

Potential developers of the REQ site, owner Phil Smith and project manager Larry Hewitt, also want major retail developments and a hotel at the site off Interstate 5's exit 63, which Hewitt said was not flooded last week.

They brought the idea last month to the county PFD, a panel that was created by state legislation to encourage large developments. The PFD is designed to be a municipal corporation and bonding agent with limited taxing authority, as it receives state tax dollars to facilitate large projects.

The approval Friday means much detail work needs to be done putting together specific plans for how the money will be used and how the bonds will be structured, Hewitt told The Chronicle.

Hewitt has said private investment dollars in the development will amount to between $50 million and $80 million."

You are driving up Interstate 5 from Portland. As you cross the Cowlitz River, one of the state's premier salmon and steelhead rivers in Western Washington, you see the freeway signs - The REQ Center - Exit 63, 1 mile. The main arena comes into view immediately supported by hotels, retail and commercial services. Mt. St. Helens looms ominously nestled in the Cascades to the east. Mt. Rainier dominates the skyline. You know something special is just ahead.

You are entering a Master Planned Resort district called The REQ Center - the Southwest Washington Regional Equestrian Center. It is located directly on Exit 63, the junction of Interstate 5 and State Hwy 505 - the gateway to the Mt. St. Helens National Volcano Monument.

The Master Plan Resort Land Use Designation

On December 14, 2007, the Lewis County Public Facilities District (LCPFD) board of directors officially selected The REQ Center as the preferred private sector plan to jointly develop this regional destination center in Lewis County. This climaxed a two-year long journey where the idea of a regional equestrian center was proposed, gathered local support, became the hot topic of the 2007 legislature, and ended in special legislation authorizing the formation of a Public Facilities District to help jump start this development - earmarked specifically for Lewis County and Southwest Washington.

An extensive site review process conducted by The REQ Center group ended with the selection of Exit 63 as the preferred site - with freeway frontage and access being primary economic considerations driving the decision. Land use challenges were the major concern, but following the disastrous December flooding in the Centralia-Chehalis area, it became all too clear that development had to proceed south of the flood-prone zones, especially for this project.

With the project selection in hand, The REQ Center group has begun to work with Lewis County and the LCPFD to create a Master Planned Resort at Exit 63 to facilitate the overall development of The REQ Center project. Under Washington State growth management regulations, an MPR can be created in a county within an area of natural amenities. It must include a fully contained resort community, complete with the major resort amenities and the supporting visitor services and real estate opportunities that makes a "park and play" destination resort community.

The scoping process of the MPR is underway, and barring unforeseen obstacles the land use changes should be completed and zoning finalized in the first quarter of 2009.