‘It just makes my heart race’: Village Green Community Center opens April 30

The hard work and the long wait are over. Actually, the wait for the Village Green Community Center’s opening was over before the ink was dry on invitations and the last book was moved into the library.

By RICHARD WALKER
and SOPHIE BONOMI
North Kitsap Herald

KINGSTON — The hard work and the long wait are over.

Actually, the wait for the Village Green Community Center’s opening was over before the ink was dry on invitations and the last book was moved into the library.

A community group, Kingston Community Solar, announced plans to raise money to install solar panels on the community center roof. The electricity generated by the solar panels would be sold, with the revenue used to pay for the system.

The Kingston Garden Club’s annual plant sale was scheduled for April 30, the first event hosted by the community center.

A 10-week series of health and wellness classes for residents 55 and older was scheduled. Local agencies — the Kingston Citizens Advisory Council and the Village Green Metropolitan Park District Commission — have made the Village Green Community Center their official public meeting place.

This is the tip — the very tip — of the iceberg.

Kingston residents have worked for two decades in preperation for this day.

“In many ways, it’s overwhelming,” Village Green Foundation executive director Daniel Johnson said.

“We’ve been working on this for so long … Some have been working on this for over a decade. To see this opening just makes my heart race.”

The dedication of the Village Green Community Center is scheduled for 2 p.m. April 30 in the community center’s banquet hall.

Village Green Foundation board president Mary McClure, foundation vice president Dave Wetter, and Metropolitan Park District Commissioner Bobbie Moore are scheduled to speak at the event, followed by self-guided tours.

The community center, 26159 Dulay Road NE, Kingston, is also the home of the Kingston Library, Kingston Senior Center, and Boys & Girls Club.

The center’s hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Friday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; closed Sundays.

The Village Green Foundation led the fundraising and project management for the community center. The foundation received a certificate of occupancy from the county on April 22, the culmination of years of efforts by the community to transform the former Navy housing site into a community gathering place. Let’s recap what it took to make Village Green a reality.

First, the community acquired the site from the military.

Voters created the Village Green Metropolitan Park District, funded by property taxes, to develop and maintain Village Green Park.

Martha & Mary bought a portion of the Village Green site to build affordable apartments for older residents. Proceeds from the sale went to pay for installing infrastructure for the community center.

The Village Green Foundation raised more than $8 million for construction of the new community center.

Kitsap County pledged future proceeds from the sale of the county-owned community center and library property on Highway 104. Those funds will help cover construction costs.

Donations and grants came from individual donors, foundations, and federal, state and Tribal governments.

As of the beginning of April, the foundation had raised $8.25 million toward the $8.7 million needed for the community center.

WHAT YOU’LL FIND INSIDE
— A spacious lobby with a front counter and offices for the foundation, the Village Green Metropolitan Park District, and a “community partner” — perhaps a health care provider.

— The senior center, with a teaching kitchen, a commercial kitchen, and a banquet room that can be divided into three rooms.

— Hallways that will serve as a community art gallery.

— A spacious, well-appointed Kitsap Regional Library branch, five times the size of the current library.

— A Boys & Girls Club with a games room, arts room, a teen room, and a 75-inch flat-screen TV for films and games.

— A technology lab with 16 computer stations and a flat-screen TV, available to Boys & Girls Club members during club hours and available to the community other times.

— A gym with a basketball court and volleyball court, with synthetic wood floor that is easy to clean.

— Windows providing an easy line of sight from room to room, as well as views of the park and Apple Tree Cove.

— Outside, in Village Green Park, people will play, walk trails, or garden in the pea-patch gardens. Within sight of it all, the Village Green Senior Apartments.

The community center will be a place of intergenerational interaction. Young people will share with elders their technological savvy; elders will impart their knowledge and wisdom and experience.

ONGOING PARTNERSHIPS
The partnerships will continue after the center opens.

The land is owned by the Village Green Metropolitan Park District, but the community center will be owned by the Village Green Foundation. The foundation will pay the park district a $1 annual lease payment.

For its part, the library will provide janitorial services for the building, as well as a $1 annual lease payment. The Boys and Girls Club will manage the building, and also pay a $1 lease.

Foundation treasurer Kendall Hanson, who has worked as a volunteer on the project since 2008, said in an earlier interview that this effort “has been one of the most satisfying periods of my life. So far it has been a story of challenges met, but I can hardly wait for the next episode when our new community center and library will be an engine of change, development and synergy for our community.”

 

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