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Friday, February 3, 2012

"The Lorax" Trees for Global Benefits Fundraiser - March 3rd!

SAVE THE DATE - BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!


The Lorax is coming to
Bainbridge Island!
 



Join your community for a private showing of Dr Seuss'
"The Lorax" on opening weekend to raise funds to support EcoTrust - Uganda's Trees for Global Benefits initiative.
 


Your ticket will grant you access to a pre-movie reception where there will be refreshments and kid-friendly activities, followed by a private showing of Dr Seuss' "The Lorax" movie.  All proceeds from ticket sales will support EcoTrust - Uganda's TREES FOR GLOBAL BENEFITS initiative, assisting small farmers in Uganda to plant and maintain trees, a program that helps to offset global carbon impacts while improving economic opportunity.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

DJC: Kitsap County gets its first LEED gold office


Daily Journal of Commerce
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A development firm named Asani teamed up with PHC Construction and Coates Design Architects to turn a neighborhood eyesore into an energy efficient building.

All three companies now have their offices in the Granero Office Building on Bainbridge Island.  Asani said the project recently became Kitsap County’s first LEED gold building.

The structure was a municipal shed built in the 1950s and used for truck maintenance.  Today, it is an energy efficient, light-filled office space.  The project was completed in 2009.

Marty Sievertson, owner and president of PHC Construction, said he was delighted to participate in the project and is happy with the results.  “Our people really enjoy the open airy feel and collaborative work environment that was created here.”

More than half of the original structure was reused.  The new building has exterior shades to reduce light pollution, extremely low-water fixtures including waterless urinals and dual-flush toilets.  The landscaping requires no irrigation.  Interior lights are on timers or occupancy sensors and 75 percent of the building is daylit.  FSC wood was used for the majority of the framing and all composite wood is free or urea formaldehyde.

The building is near the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal at 710 John Nelson Lane N.E.  Nearby bus routes offer alternative commuting options.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Bainbridge art museum's opening delayed a year - KITSAP SUN

By Tristan Baurick
Published Sunday, January 22, 2012
KITSAP SUN


— The slow pace of fundraising and construction has delayed the opening of the West Sound's first art museum by at least a year.

The Bainbridge Island Museum of Art had planned to open its state-of-the-art, $13 million facility on Winslow Way by mid-2012. Now, the opening date isn't likely until late spring or early summer 2013, and is contingent on a $2.3 million fundraising push that museum supporters hope to finish before the summer construction season.

"We were just not making enough (fundraising) progress for it to be responsible of us to move on to the second phase," said Chris Snow, a member of the museum's board, which took shape in 2009.
Last year, the nonprofit museum opened an office, classroom and 95-seat auditorium in an Island Gateway commercial building that will eventually connect with the museum's main exhibition building, which had its foundation completed early this month. The design for the finished building calls for a two-story wedge of steel and glass jutting toward the high-traffic Winslow Way-Highway 305 intersection.

Museum supporters say it will be a landmark building seen by nearly all who visit Winslow by ferry or travel in via the highway.

Totaling 20,000 square feet, the museum will have room for a permanent contemporary art collection, traveling exhibitions, retail space and a coffee shop. The permanent collection will specialize in Bainbridge and Northwest artists.

The museum has raised just over $11 million of its $15.3 million capital campaign goal. The money raised beyond construction costs will help pay for the museum's three-person staff and other operating costs.

The $2.3 million that museum supporters hope to raise in the coming months would boost the board's confidence before it green-lights the final construction phase.

"We just couldn't keep going with construction and sleep well at night," said Snow, who is expected to take over as board president this month.

Fundraising slowed after an initial flurry of dollars from local donors. The museum is searching for off-island funding from corporations, private foundations and government granting agencies before it begins a drive for smaller contributions from individuals and families.

"Initially, we worked with the founders and board members and the relationships they have in funding circles," said Greg Robinson, the museum's executive director. "Now, we're trying to go more broadly."

The museum's biggest success in the broader fundraising arena was obtaining a $502,000 grant from the state last year.

"That helps us leverage other funds," Robinson said. "It's kind of like a ... seal of approval."

A key to drawing dollars from large foundations and corporate donors is proving the museum has strong local support, Robinson said.

That's part of the reason the museum began offering its 60-person capacity classroom and auditorium to various cultural and nonprofit groups for free during the summer. The museum began charging fees for its facilities during the winter.

Kitsap Regional Library, the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce and Sustainable Bainbridge have used the auditorium for community gatherings. The newly formed Winslow Art Center makes regular use of the classroom for drawing and calligraphy classes.

The neighboring Kids Discovery Museum (KiDiMu) has held a summer camp and musical theater performances in the museum's spaces.

"We've been very, very grateful to them," said Susan Sivitz, KiDiMu's executive director. "With the extra space, we were able to double the number of offerings during our summer camp."

The two museums plan to continue their close partnership.

"We're showing we have and deserve broad-based support," said Robinson, who led La Conner's Museum of Northwest Art for five years before joining the Bainbridge museum in late 2010.

Snow expects the art museum and Bainbridge public schools to form a relationship that could include regular student museum visits and art instruction.

He would like to see more groups make use of the auditorium, which has a theater-quality sound and video system.

"Off-island money (sources) will step forward if they know there's a positive momentum of support here," Snow said. "But I think we should be building support from people here on Bainbridge Island on principle because this is the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art."

While raising money hasn't been as easy as expected, Robinson said the work required in planning the building played a larger role in slowing the museum's progress.

"I think during the last year, the organization realized the complexity of the planning process, and how long it would take to (develop) the site," he said.

Adding to the complexity was the recent push to have the building reach gold-level certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. The initial design, which incorporated recycled materials, stormwater collection and several other earth-friendly features, had aimed for a lower silver rating.

An added geothermal mechanical system provided much of the LEED ratings boost the museum wanted. The system, which was completed this month, will pull heat from the ground to warm the building, thereby reducing its dependence on the power grid.

For Robinson, building the museum has encompassed much more than the building itself.
The museum began planning construction and fundraising almost immediately after a group of island art lovers gathered around the art museum idea.

"We've been building a whole new organization, not just a building," he said.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

BI Review: Island Gateway - a 2011 community success

City news dominates 2011 headlines

By DENNIS ANSTINE
Bainbridge Island Review Editor
January 3, 2012 · Updated 4:36 PM  

For most people, life on the island does not revolve around the City of Bainbridge.

If you live here and work in Seattle, for example, likely half of your weekday’s waking hours are focused on a job and getting to and from it.


If you rarely leave the island, the city may have a little more to do with your day, but likely not very much.


The city’s business, however, is much more of an emphasis for those whose job focuses on letting community members know how public dollars are being spent and the direction a municipality is traveling in terms of representation.


With that in mind, one could say that the city – including its staff and council – was up to its proverbial neck in a multitude of trials and tribulations during 2011. Some of the headaches were hangovers from the recent past, including: the fatal police shooting of Douglas Ostling; the Bainbridge Ratepayers Alliance lawsuit and the fallout from it; the effect of the Winslow Way reconstruction project on downtown businesses; and dealing with several road emergencies, some of which occurred because of a lack of city maintenance in recent years.


There also were many positives, including: the city reducing the water rates by 45 percent at year’s end for its Winslow users; finishing Winslow Way in late November; signing a 30-year lease with Friends of the Farms; and many, many others – big and small.


The community also voted in four new council members, which could mean that some changes lie ahead since the newly elected officials – Anne Blair, Sarah Blossom, Steve Bonkowski and Dave Ward – campaigned on change to one degree or another. They also promised while campaigning to vet any proposed changes with the community. But that’s for next year.


Positives

The city and the community had many successes, including:


• RePower Bainbridge, which was formed as a result of the city writing three grants that were worth more than $5 million, swung into action by conducting 1,500 free home energy check-ups during a six-month period, with nearly 200 homeowners making energy-saving upgrades. There’s also an added emphasis on having more businesses and nonprofits joining the energy-efficiency movement on the island.


• Island Gateway, the new development at the corner of State Route 305 and Winslow Way, has concluded the back section of the project. Next up: construction of the Bainbridge Island Museum of Artand a retail building that will front the street. Avalara, a growing software company that’s on the island, relocated its more than 100 employees and its headquarters to Island Gateway...

click here to read more --->

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Runway show offers a glimpse of new store at Island Gateway - BI Review

By DENNIS ANSTINE
Bainbridge Island Review Editor
December 12, 2011 · Updated 3:01 PM 

And now, it can be said, Bainbridge Island has had its own invitation-only fashion show. With more to come.

Willie Wenzlau/For the Review Heather, a model in last Friday’s fashion show at Island Gateway, was one of three women who displayed the collections sold by Aloisa by Kristin Ryann Vogt, a new store that opened last weekend at the new development on Winslow Way.
Willie Wenzlau/For the Review
There was nothing too fancy about last Friday’s Island Gateway event, which served as an entrĂ©e to the opening of a new women’s clothing store Saturday in the new development at the intersection of Winslow Way and State Route 305.

The store is named Aloisa by Kristin Ryann Vogt – after the owner and a line of women’s clothing she will be introducing, along with several other collections.

Vogt has owned a women’s clothing store in Poulsbo for four years, but moved to Bainbridge three years ago with the goal of “bringing fashion forward” on the island.

The new 1,000-square-foot store will offer “clothing that’s a little more hip and not everyday wear,” she said. “We will have some clothes for high school girls, but the market is mainly aimed at women 18 to 50.”

Vogt said she enjoyed the Poulsbo store, which is a small boutique that emphasizes casual wear. But she plans to close the Poulsbo store in January in order to focus on her new project.

“This has been my goal for some time,” said Vogt, who has lived in Kitsap for 11 years. “My dad was in textiles and I grew up in the industry.”

She had the opportunity to learn the business first hand and designed her own clothing line as a young woman living in Sarasota, Fla.

She put her passion behind her for many years “and did the family thing, but with the children now old enough, it was time for me to get back into it,” she said.

Her opener drew about 100 people, including existing clientele, community acquaintances and a list of former customers.

Since many of the people knew each other, the ground-floor room of the middle building was loud with laughter and chatter as people moved freely before, during and after the show, which ran for about 20 minutes.

“The intent was to show people where we are going with the new business,” she said. “We want to be inclusive of the community and for people to be excited about what we are doing. We will have another show with a spring collection.”

Vogt said she is well aware of other women clothiers on Bainbridge Island and is determined not be a direct competitor with them.

“We’re going in our own direction just like most people do,” she said. “We are not trying to compete with others on the island. In most instances we won’t be carrying the same lines that others do.”
The store will be open six days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., though Vogt is still undecided on what day the store will be closed.

Contact Bainbridge Island Review Editor Dennis Anstine at editor@bainbridgereview.com or (206) 842-6613.

Monday, October 31, 2011