BI Parks acquires Fort Ward Community Hall

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Ownership of one of the oldest structures on Bainbridge Island has changed hands.

Going forward, the BI Metro Parks and Recreation District now owns the Fort Ward Community Hall, as of the district’s Sept. 4 meeting.

The district acquired the property from another public agency: the Kitsap County Sewer District #7, with which the park district shared a lease.

KCSD treats wastewater for about 500 homes and businesses on the south end of the island, including in Lynwood Center, Rockaway Beach, Pleasant Beach, Point White and Emerald Heights, and uses office space within the Fort Ward Hall for committee meetings. However, the agency is being absorbed by the countywide Kitsap Public Utility District and is slowly dissolving its holdings — including the Fort Ward Hall.

The park district uses about three-quarters of the office space in the building, and will continue to occupy the space. KCSD will continue to operate out of the property until it is dissolved, after which point KPUD will hold the lease.

Fort Ward Hall was originally built as a bakery in 1910 and provided fresh bread for soldiers stationed at U.S. Army Coast Artillery Fort Ward for almost 20 years. In 1938, it was repurposed as a generator station for the Naval radio operations.

“Ostensibly a radio school to train young enlistees in the art of Morse code and communications, the fort’s real purpose was as top-secret ‘Station S,’ a clandestine listening post perfectly sited to intercept Imperial Japanese military and diplomatic radio traffic in the Pacific,” wrote volunteers with Friends of Fort Ward Station S on their website.

The building was restored in 2020 through a partnership between Friends of Fort Ward, the park district and KCSD.