KINGSTON — Residents gathered May 3 at the Village Green to see the start of the community center/library project.
Some in attendance had been working for this day for more than a decade, weaving a complex web of support that involved numerous donors and state, county and local agencies.
“We have clung to the promise that this day will arrive,” Metropolitan Parks District Commissioner Bobbie Moore said.
Construction has finally started on the community center, which, in less than a year, will be home to a senior center, a Boys & Girls Club, and a new Kitsap Regional Library branch.
Clint Boxman of the Village Green Foundation board of directors said the center started with a vision for “a major park and a better community center.” Since 2001, there have been many fundraisers, surveys and public meetings to support the idea, he said.
Since its inception, a park has been built on the Village Green property, and officials such as Appleton, Sen. Christine Rolfes, County Commissioner Rob Gelder and Rep. Derek Kilmer have championed the project by helping to raise funds through government grants, as well as raising awareness about the efforts.
The Village Green Community Center will be built on property that used to have dilapidated Navy housing. Kitsap County acquired the land for public use and donated it to the community for park development. Voters created the Village Green Metropolitan Park District to develop and maintain the park.
Mary McClure, president of the Village Green Foundation, said, “I have never worked on a project that has been as satisfying as this has been. Look at us. We did this. We’re doing this. And it is going to be open less than a year from now.”
McClure has been with the project since the beginning. When the project was conceived, she and other members of the board weren’t sure how to tell people about their idea.
“What do you say about a building?” McClure asked. “As we worked it through, it became clear that this isn’t just about a building. This is about a place that is going to be the heart of Kingston.
“And I’m proud of be a part of that whole process.”
The Village Green Community Center has been an “inspiration,” Kitsap Regional Library CEO Jill Jean said. It has also been the focus of numerous charitable donations, public and private, and a few governmental grants.
Donations have come from private citizens and families, as well as foundations such as the A.Y. Petter Family Fund ($1 million) and the C. Keith Birkenfeld Memorial Trust ($1 million). They’ve also come from the Suquamish Tribe and groups such as Rotary, Kiwanis and Boys & Girls Clubs, among others. For a more extensive list of donors, go to www.kingstonvillagegreen.org.
Funding also came from Martha & Mary, after a portion of the property was sold to them for the construction of senior apartments. The proceeds were used to install infrastructure for the future community center. Kitsap County has also pledged proceeds from the sale of the current community center and library on Highway 104 to the development of the Village Green Community Center.
“I think inspiration really is in Kingston this afternoon,” Jean said at the ceremony, “with all of you around this circle. You have been a huge inspiration for us all, with your patience, your determination and your will to make this project happen.
“This is going to be a very inspirational place. It’s going to be that place where a single mom can know that her kids are safe after schools. It’s going to be a place where a teenager can come and learn how to program a 3D printer or do some advanced coding. It’s going to be the place where a lonely senior can meet community over a cup of coffee.
“It’s going to be a place for inspiration.”
Almost $6.3 million has been raised for this project, according to the Village Green Foundation website, though not all of the funds raised are recorded there yet. A couple weeks before the groundbreaking ceremony, the foundation was at an estimated $2.2 million away from its $8.2 million funding goal. At the ceremony, McClure said they are now less than $1 million away.
“We hope that it just keeps flowing in so that the day we cut the ribbon in March of next year and actually open the doors, we’ll be clear,” McClure said.
“As we knew at the beginning, it is more than just a building. Ultimately, it will be the programs and the people that use it, the Boys & Girls Club, the Kitsap Regional Library, the senior center.
“That’s what is going to bring this whole place alive.”
