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Friday, April 25, 2014 • Bainbridge Island Review
Residents say fire and police joint facility should utilize natural elements Consultants hold workshop to gather input on the look of building’s facade BY CECILIA GARZA Bainbridge Island Review
Residents made it clear last week that they like the “Bainbridge look.” That is, the look of Bainbridge’s existing buildings. During a public meeting April 16 to discuss a joint facility for the Bainbridge Island fire and police departments, citizens said that when it comes to the new building’s facade, the most important thing is that it fits with the rest of Bainbridge Island and its character. “Having that type of approachability is paramount in building relationships with the community,” said Bainbridge Island Police Chief Matthew Hamner. Mackenzie, Inc., the consultants hired to design the updated fire and police facilities, held its second public meeting last week. The session put the focus back on the community to ask what they would like to see built. Residents agreed that it’s less intimidating to enter a government building when it fits in with the surrounding architecture and has a warm aesthetic. Participants at the meeting favored natural design elements like exposed timber, masonry and large windows for natural lighting.
“It actually sets the performance of the building and the durability of the building,” said Jeff Humphreys, an architect for Mackenzie, Inc. “Yes, it’s a facade, but it really sets up the way the building is going to perform.” At the start of the workshop, the consultants set out several boards displaying color photographs of a variety of building facades, from a winery near Mount Hood River to a firehouse in Olympia to a community center in Vancouver. Residents were given a set of green and red sticky dots and asked to look at each photo while imagining the same design elements in Bainbridge’s future joint facility. The participants then placed either a green dot on the buildings they liked or a red dot over those they did not like. The results were unmistakable. There were red dots on the building facades that looked industrial, plain concrete, ultra-modern and, in some ways, like pseudo-car dealerships. There were green dots on those with a classic or warm look that contained large windows and timber and stone materials. For example, one of the photos that received straight green dots was Bainbridge Island City Hall. The sloped roof, barn-style architecture and colors combined with modern materials
Cecilia Garza | Bainbridge Island Review
From left, Bainbridge Island Fire Commissioner Teri Dettmer and the department’s business manager Susan Cohen study building facades they think would work best for the new fire and police joint facility. make it a friendly blend of traditional and contemporary design, said one resident. Another resident said it was consistent. “I’m hearing you say, ‘That is Bainbridge,’” Humphreys said. “That is the typology of what you think is appropriate here.” Another building that received high marks was a firehouse in North Lincoln, Ore. that Humphreys later explained Mackenzie, Inc. had designed. The station blended the classic firehouse look with classic Pacific Northwest materials. “You don’t have to have a sign to know that’s a fire station,” Humphreys said. Along with its red paint,
sloping roof and exposed and industrial to fit with timber bearings, the most Bainbridge. eye-catching aspect of the Instead, a natural aesthetic building was the wide glasswas the common denominapaned garage tor for the doors. workshop’s Passerby “I’m hearing you say, particican see and ‘That is Bainbridge.’” pants, the rigs, needless Jeff Humphreys to say, the Humphreys Consultant, Mackenize, Inc. next quesexplained, and connecting the tion the station with the consultants community in answered that way gives centered on renewable residents a sense of pride. energy. The few that didn’t receive “We approach sustainsuch positive feedback were ability on a net return basis,” obvious. Humphreys said. A firehouse in Germany Design elements considlooked like an airplane hanered for the project will be gar, said one resident. examined with practicality Other buildings, in the and cost effectiveness in same way, looked too robust mind, he said.
Scout Troop 1496 hosts electronic recycling fundraiser BY REVIEW STAFF
Remember when your computer was new and seemed like the fastest thing on the planet? Flash forward to the here and now, and it makes a tired tortoise seem speedy. Bainbridge Island Boy Scout Troop 1496 is here to help. Each year, the Scouts host a variety of community service programs designed to benefit our community and the island’s fragile environment. Their signature event is the annual Electronics Recycling Fundraiser, and it’s coming back from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 3. The location of the collection center will again be the First Baptist Church at the intersection of Highway 305 and Madison Avenue on Bainbridge Island. There’s something new this year, too. The troop is also offering a residential/business pickup prior to the e-waste fundraiser date. During this environmentally
friendly recycling event, the Scouts can recycle all your broken and unwanted e-waste. For computers, people can choose to have their hard disks ground up at the recycling company’s local warehouse, or to have disks run through a “kill” program, like the one used by the Department of Defense, to permanently wipe all information off it (computers can then be resold to those who can’t afford new computers). During the event, a nominal fee will be charged for the proper disposal of all electronic equipment. The schedule of fees is $20 for a complete computer system; $10 for monitors, CPUs, laptop computers, printers, fax machines, copiers, scanners, televisions and microwave ovens; $5 for small home appliances; and $1 each for cell phones, computer keyboards and mice. The recycling company is an approved Department of Ecology recycler. It is also a member of the
“Take It Back” Network that agrees to only recycle domestically or in developed countries. “Over the past seven years we have recycled 17 truckloads of electronic waste off of Bainbridge Island and kept hazardous wastes such as barium, beryllium and lead out of our landfills and groundwater,” said Mark W. Costa, electronic recycling fundraiser chairman. Monies raised from previous e-waste recycling events have been used to defray the cost of other community-wide service and enrichment projects. “For instance, we built a new Grand Forest trail, reforested 40 acres of Blakely Harbor Park and constructed a large animal enclosure at the West Sound Wildlife Shelter, in addition to helping create an organic vegetable garden at Woodward Middle School,” Costa said. For more information on the electronic recycling fundraiser, call Costa at 206-947-6091.
In Hillsboro, Ohio, for example, Mackenzie, Inc. incorporated energy efficient design elements into a fire station that gave the department a return within one year. Solar energy, Humphreys said, will be considered in Bainbridge’s joint facility design for the same goals. “It doesn’t just have to be limited to IslandWood,” said Rich Mitchell of Mackenzie, Inc. “It doesn’t just have to be limited to Sakai. It can be our fire station.” Sharing space between the departments will also turn into real money, real fast, added Humphreys. But all facets of the departments’ needs will be considered first. Mackenzie, Inc. will identify the requirements of the Bainbridge Island Fire Department’s headquarters and its other stations as stand-alone buildings. It will also consider the needs of the Bainbridge Island police station as a stand-alone facility. The consultants will then consider how those necessities relate to a combined facility. While the community will steer the look of the outside of the building, the site and functional flow of the floor plan will be set by the individual departments. Mackenzie, Inc. will hold a third public meeting May 14 to show citizens first sketches of what the building’s facade could look like. The presentation will be based on the April 16 workshop.
Rotary gives nearly $128,000 in grants BY REVIEW STAFF
A total of $127,959 worth of proceeds from the 2013 Bainbridge Island Rotary auction have now gone to benefit nearly 30 island organizations and projects. From kids and seniors to wildlife and native plants, there’s a cause for almost everybody and everything among this year’s Bainbridge Island Rotary Club community grants awards. The $127,959 the club plans to invest in island projects this year is the largest amount since the service organization was founded here in 1947. It represents a significant increase over the previous year’s grants thanks to an increase in proceeds from the 2013 Rotary Auction and Rummage Sale. “Being able to give this much back to our community is a thrill for us,” said club spokesman Robin Goldston. “Club members, community volunteers and
the generosity of our donors make our auction unique every summer and the Community Grants program is one of the ways it enriches our island.” The checks will be presented to the nonprofits at club meetings throughout the next few months. Beneficiaries include KidiMu, Lynwood Community Market, Hope House, West Sound Wildlife Shelter, Helpline House, Bainbridge Chorale, Montessori Country School, Bainbridge Cooperative Nursery School, Bainbridge Public Library, Battle Point Astronomical Association, Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District, Bainbridge High School and many others. For information about the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island, visit www.bainbridge islandrotary.com.