Fort Ward bakery building added to local historic register

Published 9:11 am Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The century-old Fort Ward bakery building is now the latest addition to the city’s historic register.

The Bainbridge Island Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to induct the Fort Ward bakery following a presentation by the Fort Ward Youth Advisory Committee earlier this month.

“Fort Ward played an important role in the history of our island and our nation, and preserving the Fort’s bakery is a great way to ensure that history isn’t lost,” said David Williams, co-chairman of the historic commission.

“It’s particularly impressive that high school kids brought this to our commission, undertook the research and nomination process necessary to get it on the register, and are so committed to preserving this building,” he said.

According to Aila Ikuse, Kate Merifield, Erik Appleberry and Mark Dettman, four Bainbridge High School juniors, the bakery building was built in 1910 by the U.S. Army Coast Artillery.

One corporal produced baked goods out of the building for the entire fort, which guarded the Bremerton Naval Shipyard from enemy ships.

Nearly 30 years later, during World War II, the fort was transformed into a Naval Radio Receiving Station where dozens of American operators intercepted Japanese radio transmissions under the codename MAGIC.

The bakery building was likewise converted into a power house and generated electricity for the radio equipment, the youth advisory committee said.

With the building now on the local historic register, it is eligible for a variety of preservation grants that can help fund a third generation of life for the building by converting it into a community center.

The youth advisory committee is working alongside the Kitsap County Sewer District and the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park & Recreation District to transform the interior of the building into an indoor gathering place for the south end of the island.

For more information on the project, visit fortwardbakerybuilding.wordpress.com.