The Kitsap County Board of Commissioners is expected to approve an agreement tonight between Kitsap County and the YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County to build a YMCA in Silverdale.

“The YMCA is excited to partner with the county to bring much-needed services to Kitsap Peninsula citizens,” YMCA President and CEO Bob Ecklund said. “The YMCA will create a healthier community by providing activities and services for all — children, families, teens, senior citizens and young adults of all ethnicities and from all economic backgrounds.”

The agreement includes a 35-year lease with three extensions to 110 years of property at Silverdale Way and Poplars Avenue, which has long been designated as the site for a Central Kitsap Community Campus. The YMCA is the first tenant on the campus and part of a master plan that includes a performing arts center, library, senior housing and more.

“The Central Kitsap Community Council has been looking forward to this since we first started planning for a community campus over 10 years ago. We’re thrilled with the prospect of a YMCA for Central Kitsap,” said Bob Moyer, Central Kitsap Community Council president.

Conversations began more than a year ago between the YMCA and Kitsap County when Central Kitsap Commissioner Josh Brown identified the need for a community center-style facility. Brown approached Ecklund because of the YMCA’s success with a 77,000-square-foot community hub YMCA in Gig Harbor, which serves 18,000 members, 13 percent of whom are on financial assistance provided by the YMCA.

“We will not turn anyone away due to an inability to pay membership dues,” Ecklund said. “Especially during challenging economic times, the YMCA has been, and will continue to, be there for its communities.”

Kitsap County conducted a membership feasibility study in August 2007 that identified 10,000 to 15,000 people would join a YMCA. In May 2008, the county then conducted a fund-raising feasibility study that showed potential for the YMCA to raise $4.5 million in private funds toward the project, estimated at $15 million to $18 million. Kitsap County also has agreed to contribute $1 million from its 2010 Capital Facilities Plan, and raise $4 million from other public sources. Remaining funds will be financed by the YMCA.