SILVERDALE — The Silverdale Billie Eder Community Center is still standing, but probably won’t be for much longer. The plan had been to demolish the center in February, then March, but a contract is now signed to destroy the building in June.
The center, built in 1958, has water damage, poses a liability risk and is no longer being used.
“It’s moving forward, albeit slowly,” County Commissioner Edward Wolfe said of demolition plans. He spoke at the Central Kitsap Community Council meeting this week.
“We’ve selected a local contractor that will demolish and remove everything but the sheriff’s precinct by the end of June. So, it’s done. We have a contract to do that.”
Wolfe said one reason the community center hadn’t been demolished earlier was because the fire department wanted to use it for training purposes, and, in May, a law enforcement SWAT team wants to do “active shooter” training inside the building. Wolfe said the public would be invited during training so they could see how the county government, medics and first responders work together.
As for building a new campus, Wolfe said big pieces of the plan were moving forward and a consulting group is helping determine what can be done.
“Within the next several months, we’re going to know what the scope is, what the timetable is, what it’s going to cost. It’s all coming together now,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe said several factors needed to be dealt with regarding a new Silverdale campus: dealing with $2.2 million in debt; dealing with 44 leases at the Poplars; factoring in numerous agreements in place with YMCA; and determining what to do with the sheriff’s precinct office.
Wolfe said the sheriff’s precinct office would be left where it is for now, but a plan was needed for a relocated precinct office with a 10- or 20-year timeframe in mind. Wolfe said it probably would not be on the Silverdale campus.
CKCC member Robert Moyer said what the new campus would be like and how the finances for it would pencil out would be carefully looked into.
“One of the mistakes that’s made is, first thing you do is hire an architect and design a building. And then you try and sell it to the general public. That way often ends in failure, and that wonderful drawing and all the work behind it sits on a shelf because there’s no money to actually do the project,” Moyer said.
