The Central Kitsap Food Bank will have a new home,soon.

Executive Director Hoyt Burrows said this week that the board has closed on an agreement to purchase an existing building at 3537 Anderson Hill Road, the former Tri-Star Installation building.

“We’ve been working on trying to find a new place for more than five years,” Burrows said. “We’re just really excited about this.”

The new building is 7,900 square feet, as compared to the current building which is 1,625 square feet.

“We will finally be able to set things up so that we can operate like a food bank, with an area where clients can shop, and an area where our offices can be separate from there.”

In addition, there will be more than adequate room for food storage including walk-in freezers and refrigerated space. There will be an enlarged area for bulk food to be divided and bagged by volunteers, and there will be more room for staff to talk more privately with clients as they fill out intake forms.

The purchase was made possible by a $300,000 grant from the C. Keith Birkenfeld Memorial Trust.

“One of our former board members told us that if we got to the point where we had a building, we should ask for a grant from them,” said Burrows. “So we’ve waited and waited and now it just worked.”

While the grant won’t pay off the building and the renovations that are needed, it will make a “big dent” in the overall costs, he said.

The board has had a building fund established for years and has had specific fundraisers to support that fund. That money will be used to pay down the debt on the building over time.

Birkenfeld graduated from Bremerton High School in 1956 and became a teacher. He had an undergraduate degree from Washington State University and graduate degrees from the University of Washington and Seattle University. He was an administrator in the Bellevue School District and taught at Seattle University.

He was a resident of Bainbridge Island and traveled, wintering in Palm Desert, Calif. He was the founder of Palm Springs Senior Center and lead seminars there. He supported the arts and symphony in his years and he also cared deeply for environmental causes.

The grant was administered through The Seattle Foundation from his trust, established after his death in 2005.

Burrows said the board is currently working with architects to redesign the interior of the building and will seek the necessary permits to renovate the structure.

He said he hopes the new food bank will open in four to six months.