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Fairgrounds remodel ready for Phase 2
Now that the first phase of renovations at the Fairgrounds is nearly complete, Kitsap Public Facilities District (KPFD) Board of Directors met Monday to discuss construction priorities for phase two of the renovations.
The KPFD Board met with officials from Kitsap County Facilities, Parks and Recreation to discuss the next round of work at the Fairgrounds. Currently there is original funding from KPFD and the county for funding 500 permanent stadium seats for the baseball field and for the paving of the Gordon Field parking lot, which will include installation of a storm water system. The preliminary cost estimate for the seating is $150,000 and $400,000 for the parking lot.
Currently KPFD has $502,000 to be allocated for phase two. Parks Director Cris Gears and parks project coordinator Dennis Oost provided a list of desired but unfunded project elements that could be a possibility for phase two of renovations which included a covered equestrian arena and an additional multi-sport field. Theres a request for more amenities for the baseball field including a public address system, spectator visibility fencing changes, a press box and an equipment building and field maintenance shop. The Pavilions wish list included sport curtains, a portable hardwood floor, scoreboards (four portable and one permanent wall-mounted) and locker rooms. Also on the list of desired project elements was a plumbed restroom for Callison Campground and the completion of remaining campground loops.
These (all) are desired, but have not been discussed yet, Gears said. We need to meet with the county.
As for upcoming Fairgrounds projects, Gears stressed that the No. 2 priority of the Fair Board after the paving of Gordon Field was to have a cover placed over the equestrian center. It would take a 20,000-square-foot roof to cover the arena at a cost estimated at $500,000.
Kitsap County could match original joint county and KPFD funding, according to Gears.
At a meeting last October between the Fair Board and the KPFD Board of Directors, members of the Fair Board stressed the importance of having a covered equestrian arena. Members of the Fair Board said then that the facility is not used very often in the winter and a roof would make it available year-round and it also would be a big money maker. They suggested many different activities that could be done under the covered center in the winter months including team roping events, barrel racing, jumping events and could be opened up to BMX bicycles and Boy Scouts when not used by the equestrian set.