“Pierce County wants to give away an 8,600-square-foot building. But, there is, of course, a catch.The building is the Tillicum-American Lake Gardens Community Services Center at 14916 Washington Blvd. S.W., in Lakewood. The county has provided social, health and educational services to the mostly low-to-moderate-income residents of the surrounding neighborhoods since the facility was constructed in 1984.The building’s next owner must demonstrate to Pierce County’s satisfaction that it will provide an array of quality services to the neighborhoods. That’s the catch. The county has called for proposals for operating the center. We want them to tell us how they would serve the community and what kind of programs they would provide, said David Shirer, administrative program manager for Community Services. Parties interested in acquiring ownership and operation of the center are required to be represented at a pre-submittal meeting Feb. 11. The meeting, conducted by the Department of Community Services, will be held at 1:00 p.m. in the center. Only parties represented at the meeting will be eligible to respond to the county’s Request for Proposals.Copies of the RFP package can be obtained by calling Community Services at 253-798-7205.Most of the center’s operational, maintenance and repair costs have been paid with Community Development Block Grant monies from Pierce County Community Services. However, effective July 1, Pierce County no longer will receive CDBG monies to serve Lakewood. That is because Lakewood received approval from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to be its own block grant recipient and no longer is part of the Pierce County block grant consortium.”