The board and friends of Kingston Community Center Foundation are moving ahead with plans to build a new community center and low-income senior housing project in Kingston’s Village Green Park. Here is an encapsulation of progress made since completion of the concept plans for the buildings in November 2006.
The KCCF board agreed it would continue to meet with the Village Green Park Stewardship Committee, which was formed at the request of Kitsap County Commissioner Chris Endresen when the community first learned that the Navy property adjacent to the Village Green Park was available. Like the KCCF board, the stewardship group consists of representatives of the Kingston Citizens’ Advisory Council, Greater Kingston Kiwanis, Kingston-North Kitsap Rotary, Kingston Parks, Trails, and Open Space Committee, Kingston Stakeholders, Downtown Kingston Association, Friends of the Kingston Library, and the Kingston Community News. Meeting together means a mutual interest in development of the new building and the park itself can proceed without fear of either element taking precedence over the other.
Miles Yanick & Company are updating the 2001 Concept Plan for the Village Green Park. Public meetings held in April and May will gather input from the community. This process will be concluded by the end of July.
Lee Springgate, former city of Bellevue parks director, briefed the combined group in February about park funding options. It’s now apparent that every possible source of funding must be tapped: government and private grants, voter-approved funds, and marketing programs such as affinity credit cards.
KCCF obtained a ‘pro-forma’ estimate of construction costs on the new building from Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority (KCCHA). This preliminary estimate has yet to be discussed at length with KCCHA, but it’s a starting point for planning.
The foundation decided to research a greater-Kingston Metropolitan Park District as a possible source of voter-approved funds for Village Green Park and community center development.
Taking a giant step forward, KCCF applied for a grant from Seattle Foundation’s
C. Keith Birkenfeld Memorial Trust. If not this year, maybe next!
Task force help needed
Task forces are being formed in three areas: Metro Park District/other voter-approved funding options; grants; and other fund-raising techniques. Community members who want to see this project come to fruition and the Village Green become the new heart of Kingston with a new library, and who have skills to contribute in any of these areas, please contact KCCF President Bobbie Moore.
The public is encouraged to attend Kingston Community Center Foundation meetings at 10 a.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. The April 17 meeting will be at the Kingston Community Center as the group has outgrown the space generously provided by American Marine Bank.
Contact Bobbie Moore for more information, including meeting locations, at (360) 297-2845.
Give input on Village Green concept plan
The community is invited to attend two public meetings to help plan the Village Green Park and give input on a updated concept plan, to be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, at the Kingston Community Center, and 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 23 (meeting date changed for this day) at the North Kitsap Fire & Rescue headquarters station on Miller Bay Road in Kingston. Feedback and ideas from the public are highly valued.
