KINGSTON — The Kingston Village Green Foundation has received a huge boost in its efforts to build a multi-use center.

Clair Bishop, director of the C. Keith Birkenfeld Memorial Trust, confirmed the last week of June that a $1 million grant will be provided to the Village Green project.

A total of $5.1 million is needed for the project. The grant brings the committed funds to $3.6 million, which leaves $1.7 million to be raised.

“It’s huge, because it leaves the general public with much less to cough up,” said Nick Jewett, Village Green’s executive director.

With less than $2 million left to raise, and with public support, Jewett said construction of the multi-use center could begin in 2013. In July, construction of a pavilion and the P-patch will begin at the park.

Bishop said the grant is the largest ever given by the trust.

However, the Village Green project has characteristics that enticed the trust to donate: it’s strongly supported by the community with money and time. Bishop said it’s those characteristics that are the backbone in all the grants the trust writes.

“We thought it was just a terrific project and filled a number of needs the community asked for,” Bishop said.

The new multi-use center would replace the existing dilapidated 75-year-old, 7,900 square-foot community center and 1,300-square-foot library, with a 23,000 square-foot center and 8,000 square-foot library. The new facility is expected to serve 15,000 individuals, and 40 low-income senior housing units are slated to be built adjacent to the community center.

The planned construction will provide space for youth activities, before- and after-school programs, a commercial kitchen, a senior center and areas for public meetings and events.

Bishop said housing for elderly people is “simply not available in Kingston.” The youth activities, such as the Boys and Girls Club, will provide year-round opportunities for children.

“It’s just a good family-oriented project,” Bishop said.

The $1 million grant is the largest given by the Birkenfeld Memorial Trust, Bishop said.

The trust was set up following the death of its namesake in 2005. The trust began with between $13 million and $14 million, Bishop said.

In addition to the Village Green grant, the trust will provide a restoration grant to the Point No Point Lighthouse to help finish work that was done earlier this year.

The Village Green Foundation has previously received more than $2 million in state money and other grants and private donations. Though the Village Green Foundation still has a “high hill to climb,” Bishop said the success it’s had so far makes her confident in the project. Jewett has worked on multiple school district bonds and levies, which he describes as agonizing. He said the foundation’s efforts have “gone smoothly.”

“We were jubilant,” Jewett said of the grant. “We’ve had such good luck, such good response.”