The Kitsap County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement Monday night between the county and the YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County to build a YMCA in Silverdale.

“I’m very happy, you might even say I’m thrilled,” Central Kitsap Community Council President Bob Moyer said. “I think we’re all very pleased.”

The agreement includes a 35-year lease with three extensions to 110 years of property at Silverdale Way and Poplars Avenue in Silverdale, which is designated as the site for the Central Kitsap Community Campus, according to the YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County. The YMCA is the first part of the campus which is slated to include a performing arts center, library and senior housing.

“The Y(MCA) fits really well with the community campus concept,” Moyer said.

Central Kitsap Commissioner Josh Brown said the county’s partnership with the YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County is a great collaboration and the county probably would not have been able to move forward with a YMCA in Silverdale on its own.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us, but my goal and my desire when I ran for county commissioner was to improve our sense of community and nothing brings a community together quite like a YMCA,” Brown said.

YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County spokeswoman Michelle LaRue said the Silverdale YMCA will be similar to the Gig Harbor facility, which serves 18,000 people. She said the Silverdale facility will be 50,000-70,000 square feet and include an aquatic center, fitness area, teen center, gym and racquetball courts.

“It’ll have all the usuals,” LaRue said.

She said it also will have community gathering spaces, fireplaces and an Internet café.

“You guys have a lot of folks that need to be served,” LaRue said. “We’re absolutely thrilled to expand to a new community.”

LaRue said the Silverdale YMCA will cost between $15 and $18 million to build and the YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County wants to open the facility by the end of 2011.

“Our kind of rough timeline is we’re going to embark on our capital campaign, hire an architect by January 2010 and break ground by July 2010,” LaRue said.

Kitsap County and YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County will fund the Silverdale project. The YMCA and Kitsap County will each contribute $5 million to the project and the remaining funds will be financed by the YMCA, according to the YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County.

“To date, we (Kitsap County) have about $2.8 million raised for this project, but we still have a long way to go,” Brown said.

He said the county received a $1 million grant and will contribute $1 million from its Capital Facilities Plan for the Silverdale project. The county also received $800,000 from the state for the YMCA project.

“It’s pretty exciting when you get a major grant from the state,” Brown said.

He said Kitsap County conducted a study in August 2007 and discovered that 15,000 people would join a YMCA in Silverdale.