Bainbridge Island will hire a consultant to complete a historical study on the Suyematsu Farm on Day Road that can be used to prioritize rehabilitation projects on the land and also get the farm listed on the Bainbridge Island Historic Register.

The city issued a “request for qualifications” Tuesday to find a historian or architectural historian to complete a historic structures report/management plan and local historic register nomination form for the farm.

Interested consultants have until 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5 to submit their qualifications to the city.

The city said the consultant will be paid for by a $20,000 grant the city received from the Washington State Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation, through the efforts of the Historic Preservation Commission and Friends of the Farm.

The consultant will be asked to complete a historic structures report/management plan and local historic register nomination form. The study will assess the buildings on the Suyematsu Farm for their significance and historical uses.

The city expects the project to start with field work in January, followed by architectural descriptions and assessments of the farm structures, and wrap up with a feasibility study and local register nomination in August.

If the city council approves adding the Suyematsu Farm to the register, it would become the first publicly owned property put on the list.

The Suyematsu Farm is the oldest continually operated farm in Kitsap County. The city acquired the farm in 2001 from Japanese American farmer Akio Suyematsu, who continued to farm the property under a life estate until his passing in 2012.

Farming operations on the property are currently managed by the nonprofit Friends of the Farm.

Earlier this month, the Suyematsu barn was added to the state’s Historic Barn Register.

In October, the city’s Historic Preservation Commission asked the Washington State Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation to have the Suyematsu Barn included in the Heritage Barn Register.

To be eligible for listing in the Heritage Barn Register, barns must be more than 50 years old and retain a significant degree of historic and architectural integrity.

For more information on the request for qualifications, contact city planner Heather Beckmann at 206-780-3754.