Poulsbo — When the city hands over the keys to the Poulsbo Marine Science Center to Western Washington University on May 24, there may not be a signed contract.

“If we don’t have a contract, we still need a handshake,” Mayor Becky Erickson said when she handed out a draft contract to City Council members at their May 11 meeting.

The state Attorney General’s office must still submit its draft of a contract and the two contracts have to be reconciled. The state and city have until the March 31, 2017 closing date to work out all of the details.

While details may change, the broad strokes of the agreement are clear: Ownership of the building and property, and the Marine Science Center Foundation’s assets, will be turned over to WWU. For the city, this means the land, the building and its contents — lock, stock and octopus sculpture.

According to Stern, the Marine Science Center Foundation — which had a lease from the city to operate the center as an educational site for the community — will dissolve and turn over all of its assets, including the $5,000-a-month sub-lease with Sealaska Corporation for use of second- and third-floor office space, to WWU.

In return, the draft contract states, Western agrees to “continue to operate the Marine Science Center for the benefit of the public, including for the operation of an aquarium that is open to the public, a marine science museum that is open to the public, and a marine science education program for all educational levels, including post-secondary, secondary, and primary education.

“Western also intends to use the Poulsbo Marine Science Center for general university-level classroom instruction.”

City Council member Ed Stern said, “This assures the foundation’s mission and the Science Center will continue in perpetuity.”

Stern provided the Herald with a copy of the city’s draft contract and later discussed the contents.

“A lot of the details that remain to be worked out are due to complexity of the land boundaries,” Stern said. “Some date back to 1895 and they have to be resolved before we can sign the final contract.”

Mayor Erickson elaborated on this in a separate interview, pointing out that the city-owned property in the area is currently “all one piece” and includes parking for nearby businesses and the city pump station upland of the center, as well as the science center. What land will finally be included in the transfer of ownership is yet to be resolved.

Erickson did not sign the memorandum of intent the city and Western entered into on Dec. 16, 2015. When asked why, she stated she felt there had not been sufficient opportunity for public discussion.

When asked about the seemingly rapid process from memorandum to turning over the keys, Stern said Western President Dr. Bruce Shepard is retiring in June and has made it a goal to expand new campuses before he steps down. WWU provides undergraduate degree programs at its WWU Center at Olympic College Poulsbo.

The symbolic transfer of ownership is scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. May 24 at the Marine Science Center.

Next week: Read the complete story behind the Poulsbo Marine Science Center and the reasons behind Western’s decision — and what it means to Poulsbo — in the May 20 Herald.