To some it may look like an old relic, not worthy of saving.
But to a group of Bainbridge teens, it’s a piece of history that they don’t want to lose.
The teens, who formed the Fort Ward Youth Advisory Committee, along with their advisor Sarah Lee, are the recipients of 2015 Blakely Preservation Leaders Award for their work to restore the 1910 Fort Ward Bakery Building.
Students Aila Ikuse, Kate Merifield, Mark Dettman and Erik Appleberry were recently honored at a Bainbridge Island City Council meeting.
“They have shown remarkable poise and persuasive ability in presenting their project before the public and demonstrated awareness of and dedication to preservation of the history and historical environment of their community,” said William Shopes, who nominated the youth.
The Blakely Awards have been given annually by the Bainbridge Historic Preservation Commission to recognize significant contributions toward historic preservation in the community.
The students, all juniors at Bainbridge High School, live in the Fort Ward area and recalled walking past the 1910 brick building as kids when they would play in the area.
“It’s just always been a part of us,” said Aila. “We’ve grown up with it.”
It was about a year ago when the students thought about taking on restoration of the building as a senior project.
But soon, Erik said, they decided that it had to be more. They wanted it to become a community project.
With the help of Lee, a Kitsap County Sewer District No. 7 commissioner who lives in the area, they formed the advisory committee and began plans for the restoration.
First came Phase One, which was creating the plans and researching the history of the building.
As the kids will tell you when you tour the place, it was built in 1910 by the U.S. Coast Artillery Corps as part of Fort Ward, a military fort that existed to protect Admiralty Inlet and the Puget Sound from attack. The bakery building was where the cook made bread to feed the soldiers who stood guard.
By World War II, there wasn’t a need for the bakery, since rations came pre-packaged to the fort, and it was converted to a power station to supply electricity to the fort.
During World War II, the fort was where Navy ship radio operators came to learn Morse Code.
At least that’s what the public thought. Later, it became known that they were actually intercepting Japanese messages, including one that was sent early on the day of Pearl Harbor.
After World War II, the fort was rarely used by the military and eventually the bakery building was surplused by the federal government around 1960. It became a private residence until 2007, when the sewer district bought the old brick building, hoping to make it their office.
With this history, the students made information boards for inside the bakery building. They also sought out a construction and design firm to create drawings of what the building could become with a little bit of tender loving care. Tina Gilbert, of On Time Within Budget, donated her services to do that.
She figured that the renovation and construction would cost about $300,000 and would take about 12 months, once funding and permits were in place.
They also met with the Bainbridge Parks Foundation and asked for the support of a partnership, since they needed to raise funds under a nonprofit status.
“The foundation wanted to see that we were committed to this project,” Aila said. “They told us if we raised 10 percent of the cost of the project upfront, then, they’d partner with us.”
Finally, they were ready to approach the public and ask for funding. They hosted community meetings to tell residents their plans.
“We went to the Rotary, to the Historic Preservation Commission and talked to the city council,” said Kate. “Pretty much we talked to anyone who would listen.”
To date, they’ve raised $12,000 of the $30,000 needed. They’ve been able to secure some small grants and the other money has been private donations. They have several more fundraising projects planned, including selling T-shirts and reviving Fort Ward Days in mid-August, an event that will include a salmon bake.
“Everyone we talk to has been very accepting and kind,” said Mark. “We really want to see this project happen because it’s our way of giving back to the community we grew up in.”
Once the building is completed, there will be an office in it for the sewer district. There will be a large community room where they can host potlucks and meetings. It will have a kitchen, bathroom and storage area.
Some of the windows that have been bricked shut over the years and will be reopened, and the entrance will be realigned to look as it did when it was first built.
“There’s actually a road on the west side which is now covered up with blackberries,” said Aila. “We plan to clear that out and we’d like to use it for parking.”
Other events that the teens want to see at the bakery-building-turned-community-center are movie nights, where kids in the area can come for a Disney marathon and popcorn, and craft classes or book talks for area residents.
“We’re also thinking it could be a gathering place in a time of emergency,” said Kate. “We’d have supplies here and everyone could come here when the power goes out.”
Knowing that the project will stretch over the next few years, the group has also recruited younger students who live in the area to take on the work once they all head off to college in a year or so.
They know they’ve got work in front of them. But getting the Blakely Awards has recharged them.
“It’s amazing,” said Aila. “To finally get noticed for what we want to do — we’re just so happy.”
Mark agreed.
“When I got the email telling me we’d won the award, I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
The bakery building is now on the national, state and local historic registers. The parks district will do the remodel and manage the center once it is operating.
Having a community center on the south end is something the students say is needed.
“There are other community centers on Bainbridge — Filipino Hall, Seabold Hall and Island Center Hall — but nothing on the south end,” said Aila. “We really need this.”
To donate, visit www.fortwardhall.org.
They live history
History means so much to Joe and Beth Claseman, that they are living in it. They are the residents of the McRedmond Cabin, originally built in 1867.
The Clasemans received the Blakely Project of Excellence Award for their work to preserve the McRedmond Cabin. They also received honors at the last city council meeting.
Joe bought the cabin and other buildings that sat on five acres, off of Sportsman Club Road in the center of the island, in 1977. When he moved to the land, there was a little log cabin on the property, a bigger cabin, the remnants of an old barn, a round six-sided gazebo-looking structure and a smaller caretaker’s house.
At the time, Joe, who was a teacher by trade, didn’t know much about the history of the place. But he knew he needed to find out. He discovered that a man named Mel Davis had owned the property from about 1936 to 1966, and that he was living in Tacoma. He went to talk to him and learned that the Davis had lived there as the caretaker and dried berries (holly and huckleberries) that grew on the property for shipping to Port Orchard to be sold.
Joe also learned that the larger cabin on the property was originally built by Luke McRedmond, an important figure in the early days of Bainbridge Island.
McRedmond was an Irishman who arrived on Bainbridge Island at about the same time as George Meigs. McRedmond went to work for Meigs at Meig’s lumber mill and ship building company.
For 14 years, McRedmond worked as a carpenter, lumberman and ship’s captain. But he also became active in local politics and served as county auditor, clerk of the courts, county assessor and county commissioner, back in the day when Kitsap County was known as Slaughter County and Port Madison was the county seat.
As Joe learned, McRedmond stayed only three years before moving to Seattle. Later he had a farm in the area now known as Redmond, and in fact was postmaster there and loaned his name to the town.
In 1982, Joe wrote an article for the Kitsap Week newspaper and shared what he learned.
“What emerges about Luke McRedmond is the character of a common man who was uncommon in his sense of involvement in the community and his willingness to help his fellow man shape it,” Joe wrote. “If anything is the legacy of Luke McRedmond it is that. It is a legacy that’s been lost to us for more than 100 years and now that it has been found it deserves its place not only in our history books, but in our consciousness.”
Joe also learned that during the 1960s, the cabins, the barn and the caretaker’s house, were considered by many to be a hippie commune. There was a kiln on the property and those who lived there made and sold pottery and taught lessons in the summer.
But as Joe spent more time on the property, he couldn’t get away from the idea that the cabin needed to be restored. He wasn’t sure the other smaller cabin was in the shape to be restored, but he knew the larger cabin had a solid structure.
He had since married Beth and they lived in Seattle, but came to the cabin as they could. He hired local handyman Todd MacVane and his son to live on the property and begin work on the restoration.
With the help of builder-preservationist Mike Brundige and log home specialist Terry Creasey, the cabin was restored. It took more than three years. A foundation was placed under the cabin and a small loft bedroom was added. It had a small kitchen and bath and it became a beloved weekend get-away for Joe and Beth.
Soon, they decided to move the second cabin, which was originally used as a spring house, to where the restored cabin sat and increase their living space.
“At first we thought we’d just have two separate cabins,” Joe said. “But Terry convinced me that we should join the two together with a den or sitting area in-between.”
The move allowed a bedroom for them and they were able to make the kitchen bigger. By 2010 the place took shape and the couple began furnishing it.
“That was the fun part,” Beth said.
The sitting room has a rock fireplace and is decorated with a frontier look. On the wall is the skin of a Roan antelope that they purchased during their travels to South Africa.
Near the fireplace is a replica of a rifle that Joe held when he played an extra in the film, “How the West Was Won,” back in 1962. Antiques adorn the cabin and there are several collections of early day kitchen utensils and tools. A portrait of Luke McRedmond hangs in the living room.
Joe, who taught in the Central Kitsap School District and on Bainbridge Island, also had a career as a financial planner. Beth was a career teacher in the Seattle Public Schools. They met when Joe’s boss introduced them.
Following their careers, they have managed a multicultural studies program for teachers that includes traveling the world. They’ve taken 52 trips around the world and have more planned. Joe also teaches Shakespeare classes on Bainbridge and in Oregon.
With living in the city and traveling, they consider the cabin their solitude. They visit about three days a week, just about every week.
“When we come over, I can just feel myself relax,” said Beth. “We just put all our cares behind us and fall back in time.”
While the work to restore the property was done by professionals, the Clasemans had the foresight to make sure the cabins were preserved, according to Rick Chandler, who nominated them for the Blakely Award.
“The Clasemans maintained much of the original cabin when renovating,” he said. “They are deserving of this award.”
He is also helping them get the cabin on the local historical register.
The barn was taken down years ago, and the round structure fell in a snowstorm in 1996. The caretaker’s house has been virtually completely rebuilt and is occupied by a caretaker who lives full time on the property.
The acreage has several streams and ponds, an apple orchard and gardens. And it boasts of the second largest cedar tree in Washington.
As for the future, the Clasemans aren’t worrying about that. They plan to just enjoy the cabin and the land and share it with their daughter and grandson.
“We’re not sure what will happen with it, once we get too old,” Beth said. “But it will stay in the hands of someone who will care for it. It’s part of history.”
