Future of NW Kids Club Threatened by Controversy Over County Fee

Marion County officials say the school needs to pay a $4900.00 fee for request approval; this is outrageous since the landlord has already paid the fee.

The NW Kids Club has been a real asset for Salem families. Please visit nwkidsclub.net to learn more, and to assist.

(SALEM, Ore.) - In June we told you how the NW Kids Club, otherwise known as the Indoor Playground, had been a wonderful asset to children and parents in the Salem-Keizer area for three years, but the owners were informed on May 24th that they would have to find a new location.

After months of stress and searching, owners Lu and Geoff McDonough have finally found a building that is willing to lease to them. All of us who have been following this devastating situation were extremely excited until Marion County threw a huge wrench into the gears.

The building is located at 4700 Silverton Rd. in Salem. It would provide enough space for an indoor playground and a pre-school. Perfect situation.

Now, when a business owner opens a business they have to pay a landlord fee that is calculated by the amount of traffic the business would bring to a certain area. This building has been vacant for four years but they did pay their fee in 1996.

When Ms. Lu went to the county today to have them sign off on the business the county told her that they would expect a $4900.00 fee in order to approve her request. This is outrageous since the landlord has already paid the fee.

Ms. Lu has been working with Mark Wietrecht of Young and Wietrecht Architects to get the building up to code to have the play space and the pre-school. They will be visiting the county again tomorrow to speak with supervisors about this fee that has apparently already been paid.

It is possible that the county will waive this fee, and I hope they do because it doesn’t seem legal to charge a one-time fee twice. If all goes well Salem will have its NW Kids Club up and running again in no time! If it doesn’t then it will never happen, this is their last chance.

Prior article: Jun-02-2010 NW Kids Club Forced to Close Doors by End of June - Amanda Leduc Salem-News.com