POULSBO — The Port of Poulsbo has swung a deal which will nab the marina a new boathouse for $9,000.

‘New’ might be a bit of a misnomer though: The boathouse has been unused, without a boat in it for over a year now. Port Manager Brad Miller said that the move was made to allow the port to refloat their existing boathouse in order to make it more environmentally friendly. While the existing boathouse is being refitted, Miller proposed that the “new” boathouse be converted into the port’s workshop.

“My plan was to convert the new boathouse into a new workshop, move everything into it, then basically convert the one we’re in now back to just a regular boathouse and make the environmental upgrades to it as well,” Miller said. “In the end we will have upgraded two boathouses and have a new, better, bigger workshop for the maintenance crew to work out of.”

Miller also said that after the upgrades had been completed on both boathouses, the port would have the option either to sell one or rent one out.

The port manager also noted that the port was able to get the boathouse for an “incredibly good price.”

“That is a monumentally good price,” Miller said. “No boathouse has ever sold that cheap, not even close … Back in the day that boathouse would’ve sold for probably $50,000.”

According to Miller, in 2010 a boathouse of the same size as the one recently acquired sold for $30,000 and in 2009 another smaller one sold for $57,500.

When Miller brought the possible acquisition to the commissioner’s table for approval during a March 1 meeting, the audience spoke among itself in hushed tones. One individual toward the front of the room nodded with understanding before saying, “The bird house.”

Miller noted the boathouse’s reputation as an aviary refuge.

“There’s pigeons in it,” he admitted. “We’ll get it all cleaned up and get a new curtain put up so the birds can’t get in there anymore.”

—Nick Twietmeyer is a reporter with Kitsap News Group. Nick can be reached at ntwietmeyer@soundpublishing.com