Passersby on West Kingston Road have been asking, “When is that Community Center going to be built?” Or, they might have the Library, or the Senior Center, or the Boys & Girls Club at the front of their minds.

The best answer is: When we have secured sufficient funds to build the building we need.

We could try constructing as much of the building as we can with the money we already have, but then we’d have to decide what part will not be built in the first phase. There’s no easy answer to that.

The Village Green Foundation board remains emphatically committed to building the public meeting rooms, the senior center, the youth activity center/Boys & Girls Club, and the new library. Every part of the building has passionate constituents and represents a community need that is currently not met.

Architectural drawings are just about complete, and we finally have reliable estimates of the real costs of construction. It’s going to cost more than the money we have raised.  The community’s generosity has been overwhelming, and together with foundations, Washington State, and Kitsap County we have raised $4.9 million. We still need about $1.7 million to construct the building, and there will also be furnishing and financing costs.

We’re hearing that the Seattle building market has every contractor busy, and we’ve been advised not to bid now even if we had all of the funds. In July, the foundation board decided to consider bidding the project in January, historically the best time to bid. That leaves us four months to finish raising the money we need for construction.

Readers of these pages have responded generously.  Every reader can help further: Appeal to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers to support the Village Green and help us across this finish line. Remind them that we can all stretch our contributions by pledging over five years. Our neighbors on the Suquamish Tribal Council have just pledged $100,000 over the next year!

Pie in the Park
Help the Village Green Capital Campaign cross the finish line, get a free slice of pie, have a load of fun by buying an auctioned pie at Pie in the Park, Aug. 15, 6-8 p.m. at the Village Green. Get your friends, neighbors, and co-workers there, and let them know their pledge of support is needed.

Attention Pie-Bakers: Check out the Village Green website, www.kingstonvillagegreen.org, for information, and sign up to donate a pie or two by emailing shredpath@centurylink.net