Kingston
residents hope
it ends vandalism.
KINGSTON — The old housing duplexes previously owned by the U.S. Navy is going down.
Kitsap County Parks and Recreation awarded the demolition project bid Aug. 20 to Northwest Abatement, a company out of Lakewood.
Per an agreement with the county, Northwest Abatement has 90 days to complete the demolition of the housing, said Matt Keough, planning project manager for Kitsap County Parks and Recreation. Because the housing had more hazardous materials reported, including asbestos and lead paint, the bidding process was kept open one more week from Aug. 13.
County engineers estimated the demolition to cost the county $100,000. Northwest Abatement’s bid at $104,000 was the lowest out of 40 contending bidders, Keough said.
“A lot were nervous to work with the amount of hazardous materials,” he said.
The demolition process includes removing the building structures and their slabs. The current asphalt, chain link fencing and walkways are not included.
“The issue of the playground also still has to be resolved,” Keough said.
Before any of the structures are taken down, abatement and removal of the asbestos is the first priority.
The housing’s underground fuel tanks were removed in July. Keough said there was concern pollutants leaked into the ground.
“No contamination was found in all but one of the 10 holes,” he said, adding in the one, only a small, unquantifyable trace was found.
The housing complex, located along West Kingston Road, currently sits on the planned site for the future Kingston Village Green.
The 3.6-acre property was acquired from the U.S. Navy in 2006. It borders the site of the new Kingston Community Center and proposed low-income senior housing development.
Once the demolition is complete, plans for the grounds include hydroseeding and re-grading for open space.
“The phase two re-grading of the property to make it more of a level area is another permit and bidding process,” Keough said. “The weather won’t affect the demo process but we will have to deal with the reality of grading and hydroseeding in November.”
If the past continues to repeat itself, the pacific northwest rain could dampen the process a bit. However, during Wednesday morning’s Village Green Stewardship meeting at Kingston’s American Marine Bank, Keough and North End Commissioner Steve Bauer said they were optimistic the project will be finished by the end of the year, if all the phase permits line up.
The Village Green Stewarship committee voiced to Keough and Bauer they would like as many of the Red Tip trees removed from the property during the phase two re-grade.
“The sooner we can see from the road to the Camper Down Elm the better off we are going to be,” said Jack Minert, who lives across from the housing property. During the demolition purgatory of the buildings, Minert has seen vandalism occur in both the housing complexes, the pump station and underneath Kingston’s heritage Camper Down Elm tree.
“The biggie thing right now is we have a group that likes to party underneath the Camper Down Elm,” Minert said. “The last time I took the sheriff up there, there was a hide-a-bed up there.”
The committee also voiced that if they were going to default one way or another, it was best to default to keep the playground on the property.
Mary Lou Iverson, a professional playground safety consultant of Kingston, recently inspected the play area.
According to a document she sent Keough, she said it could easily be made safe although it might have to be removed temporarily.
As long as the Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines are met the playground is good to go, said Chip Faver, director of Kitsap County Parks and Recreation.
Although it might cost money to improve the safety of the park, Faver said in the long run it would cost more to replace it altogether.
The Kingston Community Center Foundation and Village green Stewardship Committee meet jointly at 10 a.m. every fourth tuesday of the month at Kingston’s American Marine Bank.
