HANSVILLE — Poulsbo isn’t the only community in North Kitsap proud of its Nordic heritage.
Hansville residents let this be known Feb. 15 as they met to discuss options and a name for a small waterfront area downtown. Norwegian Point Park was the hands down favorite.
Iin order to make it official, residents, who are preparing for the park’s grand opening March 31, must receive approval from the Kitsap County Commissioners.
Norwegian Point has historical relevance to Hansville and is also already listed on nautical maps, said meeting moderator Fred Nelson.
Other, less popular, suggestions included Hansville Water Front Park, Hansville Landing, Finn Creek Park and Forbes Landing.
“The (saltwater parks committee) prefers Norwegian Point Park because of the significance of the historical name,” Nelson said. That was what the area was referred to in the 1800s.
The four acres in question are located off of Hansville Road near Hansville Market. The county is negotiating to purchase an adjacent 1.88 acres to add to the park’s property, bringing its total to about 5.88 acres.
The park project has been gaining momentum since September 2005 when the state’s Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation awarded $1 million to Kitsap County to purchase the $1.5 million property.
One catch of this award is the park must be developed within IAC guidelines. How to do so was also addressed at the meeting. Many residents in attendance were curious about the use of several dilapidated buildings located on the property.
“If the county does decide to keep the buildings, will the next level of funding be impacted by this?” asked Hansville resident and Hansville Greenway Association treasurer Sid Knutson.
IAC grant manager Leslie Ryan-Connelly answered that money would be carved out of the grant so the county could keep the structures, but it would have to purchase them.
The buildings are currently being examined to determine whether or not they have historical significance. If they do, the community could nominate to have them included on the state register. Even then, the county would still have to find the funds to buy and refurbish them.
If historical, there are other avenues of funding the county can take to maintain the structures. But the buildings must cater to outdoor activities to meet IAC standards, Ryan-Connelly said.
“We’ve discussed in the past using a small boat launching building,” said Hansville resident Tony Atkinson. “That’s not considered an inside use, it wouldn’t drop it out of the grant?”
“If it was privately used, then yes it would,” Ryan-Connelly said. “As long as it’s open to the public to store someone’s rental boats, it’s OK … A private party would be benefitting from public property if we allowed people to store their boats there.”
