Seabeck Christian Conference Center, 15395 Seabeck Hwy NW, Seabeck, WA 98380-9583 Web: www.seabeck.org Phone: 360-830-5010 Seattle: 206-842-0346.

   Few multi-million decisions will be made at the Seabeck Christian Conference Center. The idea is more to get rich in spirituality of any form, said Executive Director Larry Hill, whether that’s through religion, healing, or charitable service.
   “The Christian in our title is a hold over from when we were affiliated with the YMCA,” Hill said. “We’re open to nonprofits because we’re a nonprofit ourselves. It’s in our charter.”
   More particularly they’re open to the 501c(3) variety of nonprofit. Last year they hosted 1095 different organizations over 290 days, offered room and board to 26,000 guests and served 90,000 meals.
   “There’s no other pace quite like the Seabeck center,” Hill said. “It’s a beautiful setting. The historical nature of the facility gives it a sense of tradition.”
   Forty-five people work to manage what has become a year-round facility, which it was not in past decades. There’s always been one over-reaching sense of nostalgia: “Except for a few modern structures Seabeck looks much the same as it did back then; back when we imagine life was less complicated, issues were clearer, and values were stronger.
   It’s a sense brought to life by the old-time surroundings. There are seven separate sleeping areas and two conference areas that can hold upward of 250 people. It all sits on 90 acres of sprawling grass and trees.
   Hill said that in the years he’s managed the conference center, the popularity of the place has “gone crazy.”
   “Increased use brings increase revenues, but it also means more upkeep costs,” Hill said. “We’re dependent on gifts and donations.”
   In the last few years that generosity has meet a $650,000 goal for renovations. That’s good coming from those who, to become guests, are meant to have a “charitable purpose,” Hill said.
   Other organizations such as the Key Peninsula Civic Center, and the Miracle Ranch and Island Lake locations of Crista Camp and Conference have the same focus on nonprofits, though the Crista camps do not do so out of legality. Pierce and Kitsap county park and recreation departments also offer their facilities to non-profits as do any number of smaller bed and bed breakfasts and other facilities.
   Few do it with such a history as the Seabeck center, which began life as a YMCA camp and was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1936.
   “We started in 1915 and there’s not many businesses older than we are,” Hill said. “The Naval Shipyard maybe, but not many others.”
   From mill town to burned husk, the center has weathered the ups and the long decline of the town of Seabeck, Hill believes it’s now back on the rise, with a little reverence and faith in civic pride and duty.