Silverdale port seeks a new ‘front porch’ for its waterfront
SILVERDALE – An events center and new public dock are among the ideas to improve amenities along the Port of Silverdale’s waterfront off Byron Street.
Following the purchase of several additional parcels of property in recent years, the port has hired a Bremerton architecture firm to study how it could develop the land. Steve Rice, a principal at Rice Fergus Miller, frames the conversation around how best to improve the old town’s “front porch” for both sea and land visitors alike.
“I think old town needs a landmark,” Rice said. “Something like an events center would fit that.”
Appropriately “scaled,” Rice believes such a center, perhaps two stories tall with a back deck for gatherings like weddings, would enhance the waterfront for the public.
In a recent presentation before the Central Kitsap Community Council, Rice floated the idea, along with a “human-powered watercraft center,” to build upon programs, like the Clam Island Rowing Club, that already exist there.
“Those are things Silverdale could be known for,” Rice said.
Ed Scholfield, who’s served on the three-person port board of commissioners since 2007, said he’d also like to see a second dock along the waterfront to accommodate both motorized and non-motorized vessels. The port, he noted, has an obligation to its motoring public. It has attained state grants in the past to improve those types of facilities.
The port was established in 1920 and its taxing district covers 16 square miles of Silverdale and Central Kitsap. Over the years, the port has partnered with Kitsap County in developing Old Town Silverdale’s waterfront. More recently, port officials have bought additional chunks of property near Byron Street to encourage and enable public access.
“That’s the vision we’ve had down there for years,” Scholfield said. “Getting people to the end of the street and to the water.”
And then there’s Byron Street itself. Old Town’s mix of businesses, from the offices of longtime lawyers to boutique retailers, have different needs, Scholfield notes. There’s no place in Silverdale quite like the grid of Old Town, whose streets once supported the cooperative farmers that gave rise to Silverdale’s previous fame as the “egg capital of the world.” The chicken-raising haven shipped eggs and chicken as far as Chicago in the early days of the 20th century, according to local historians.
Among its most historic buildings: 3473 North Byron Street, which long housed the Old Town Pub. But the bar, along with apartments above it, was shut down by the Kitsap County Fire Marshal late last year for issues related to the 1911 building’s fire safety and structural integrity. Scholfield said the port needs to determine whether the building can be rehabilitated.