KINGSTON — During the past several years, Bayside Community Church has put its mark on Kingston with a food bank, the new park and ride and other community programs.

Now the church is proposing something even more ambitious: the Ed Moon Community Center.

The proposed 8,000-10,000 square foot, non-faith facility would house the Sharenet Food Bank, a senior citizen’s lounge, rec room, public computer lab and a half-court gymnasium. The site is on property owned and across from the church.

These are preliminary plans that need input from the community outside the church’s congregation, board members said.

Community center board members also emphasized that the project would be separate from the church. The center would simply carry on Bayside’s tradition of sharing with the community, said Rev. Scott Montagne.

“We have always wanted to be able to help,” Montagne explained.

Although youth-oriented programs are a large part of the ideas for the community center, it would not be a “teen center.”

On Tuesday nights the church opens its sanctuary to youth, to offer a safe environment for kids. The young people often bring their homework to work on, while others play games said Erik Ramsey, who works with the congregation’s youth.

As for making the Ed Moon Community Center an appealing place for kids to hang out, that shouldn’t be a problem.

“If we provide activities and a place where they’ll be safe and cared for, they’ll come,” Ramsey said.

“I think if kids have nothing to do they’ll get into trouble,” he said.

This idea of creating activities for Kingston area youth is not a new Idea, but one that is being addressed from several different angles.

The NK Teen Club is also trying to provide youth activities. Leaders there are in negotiations with the Kitsap County Parks and Recreation Department and the Greater Kingston Kiwanis to work out a lease agreement. Parks and recreation officials are expected to address the Kingston Citizen’s Advisory Committee on the status of the deal that would put the community center under the auspices of the Kiwanis.

When asked why the church is proposing to build a separate community center from the one downtown or the future one that is part of the Kingston Sub-Area Village Green Plan, Montagne gave the analogy of having several churches in a small community.

“We’re not competing with anybody. It’s just a different emphasis,” he said.

The project would cost an estimated $1-1.2 million and take about two years to build. The church is paying for the exploration portion of the project, which includes developing a site plan.

The Ed Moon Community Center would also have a permanent space for Sharenet. The food bank currently operates out of an 800 square-foot trailer it has more than outgrown.

Sharenet helps an estimated 5,000 people in the community, but doesn’t have enough space to store frozen food items such as Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys.

“We don’t turn anyone away,” said Kim Planck, director and vice president of the community center board.

Steve McFadden, the board’s chairman said it made sense financially to combine the food bank with the community center. Most of the project’s funding is expected to come from grants.