Bremerton poised on brink of prosperity
7/27/2004by Susan Gilmore (Seattle Times)

BREMERTON — For years this blue-collar town across Puget Sound from Seattle has been declared dead.

 

Businesses fled to Kitsap County shopping malls, leaving behind boarded-up storefronts and a few shops struggling to survive.

 

There is no grocery or drugstore downtown, and the city's prime waterfront was paved into parking lots for workers at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Homes were practically being given away.

 

But things are changing, in a big way.

 

On Sunday, the city will gather for the grand opening of its conference center, Bremerton Harborside, on the waterfront adjacent to the state ferry terminal.

 

Next door is a new hotel and a government building owned by Kitsap Transit. In October, the government center will open, and ground will be broken later this year on a credit-union building. Next spring, construction will begin on 200 waterfront condominiums.

 

And the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard is building a 1,000-car parking garage and donating a piece of land to the city for a new downtown park. In all, there's $500 million in development over the next few years.

 

Not bad for a city that hadn't seen a new building downtown in two decades.

 

"Location, location, location," Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman said as he gazed at the new conference center, with its signature fountain that shoots water to simulate a salmon swimming upstream.

 

"There's been an economic malaise in the past 25 years. You could shoot a cannon down main street and not hit anyone. The city's gotten old, and there's been a brain drain."

 

In the 2000 census, Bremerton was the only city in the state with a population above 20,000 to lose residents.

 

But thanks to federal funds and creative public-private financing, the city is experiencing a renaissance — all without asking its voters for a cent.

 

Starbucks as anchor

 

There are still boarded-up buildings, and retail is scarce. The town's department stores fled years ago to Kitsap Mall in Silverdale. To Bremerton's dismay, the battleship Missouri, the setting for Japan's surrender in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, and a key tourist attraction, left for Hawaii in 1998.

 

But now, Bozeman said, there's one indicator of how Bremerton is changing: It's getting its very first Starbucks downtown.

 

"People thought we didn't drink coffee," said Bozeman, who says he's been trying for two years to interest Starbucks in Bremerton.

 

"Starbucks is a pretty big deal for little Bremerton," said P.J. Santos, senior real-estate manager for Opus Northwest, the developer of the new downtown buildings.

 

"It's convincing retailers that there's a paradigm shift for Bremerton. You're seeing people putting investments in downtown. This is the first domino in the revitalization of downtown."

 

If the new downtown buildings weren't enough, there's another project on the books: a $28 million tunnel from the ferry terminal through downtown Bremerton. It's backed by U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, a Bremerton native son.

 

"I've always said that Bremerton could be like Sausalito," Dicks said. "I always believed that this was a gem that was waiting to be finished."

 

Steve Anderson, executive director of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, said, "There had been efforts over several years to get things going, but it never caught on. Now there's this great alignment. And you can't forget the congressman who was born here."

 

The tunnel is perhaps the most controversial part of Bremerton's makeover. It will carry ferry traffic headed for locations outside downtown Bremerton four blocks under the streets, avoiding downtown.

 

Dicks said he expects that two-thirds of ferry riders in vehicles will bypass Bremerton, and the tunnel will make downtown more pedestrian-friendly.

 

Already, $4 million in federal funds has been appropriated for the tunnel, which will be managed by the state Department of Transportation.

 

"This is no different than what Seattle is looking at for the (Alaskan Way) Viaduct," said Gary Sexton, economic-development director for the city.

 

"We've abused our waterfront, and now we're starting to understand the value of waterfront and how to get cars off of it. We want to recapture the waterfront and make it a destination."

 

But a group of Bremerton residents has organized to oppose the tunnel. It's led by downtown property owner Louis Soriano, who is circulating a petition to put the tunnel to a public vote.

 

"Why spend $28 million for an 850-foot tunnel?" Soriano said. He said the city has just 14 ferry arrivals a day and it takes an average of eight minutes to unload.

 

"We don't see a need," he said. "There is no traffic problem. Twenty-eight million is pork-barrel spending. I think putting in a tunnel would ruin downtown."

 

But Soriano said he is happy with the renaissance of downtown Bremerton.

 

Taking a risk

 

And he's got a lot to be happy about.

 

The $47 million conference center opens Friday with the Kitsap Sports Awards banquet and already has 62 events scheduled by the end of the year. Eric Ruud, general manager of the center, said 11,000 people will attend events through Dec. 31.

 

"It's scary," Bozeman said. "It's a risk. If we don't make money, we still have to pay the bills."

 

Some of the $47 million paid for the new hotel adjacent to the conference center and the office building purchased by Kitsap Transit.

 

The plan is to lease out much of the space. Starbucks, a Cold Stone Creamery ice-cream store and a Subway sandwich shop share the lower floor.

 

Opening in October is the new, $26 million government center, where city offices will move. And ground will be broken in September on a $12 million Kitsap Credit Union building across from the conference center.

 

Next month, construction will begin on the 1,000-car parking garage being built by the shipyard for its 8,000 workers. It is donating land to the city for a new park near the ferry terminal, and the oldest shipyard building will be given to the city for a maritime museum.

 

The city spent $4.5 million to buy parking lots on the waterfront. With the Kitsap Housing Authority, it will build 200 condominiums next spring, a $60 million project.

 

The Port of Bremerton plans to expand its marina to 365 slips. And on Monday, the new, private Kitsap Ferry passenger service between Bremerton and Seattle is to make its first run.

 

In addition, Bremerton was just awarded $40 million in federal tax credits that can be ploughed into its downtown renovation.

 

On the rebound

 

Jim Avery, Kitsap County assessor, points to clear evidence that Bremerton is on the rebound.

 

"It's exciting when you see private-sector money coming in," he said. "Maybe this is the best chance Bremerton has had in the last 30-40 years."

 

He said property values have gone up 20 percent in the past two years and the median home price in Bremerton is $120,000, up at least 20 percent from a year ago. In comparison, Seattle's median home price is $326,000, which is one reason Bremerton is becoming attractive for home owners.

 

That influenced Dimension4, a computer company, to relocate its entire operation to Bremerton. The company's corporate headquarters, now in Seattle, will move its 50 employees to Bremerton in the fall.

 

"There's a decent labor pool for us over here, and the cost of living is more reasonable," said John Peace, vice president of operations, who moved to the state from Southern California 18 months ago.

 

The company has leased a four-story building in downtown Bremerton.

 

"The change in Bremerton has been significant," Peace said. "It gives the appearance it's bottomed out."

Bozeman agrees: "We're truly a city in transition." He said 200 people are on a list to buy the new waterfront condos. With them will come retail, he said. A grocery. A drugstore.

 

"Within five years, downtown will be completely revitalized," Bozeman predicted.

 

The power of local government is not new to him. After serving 16 years on the Bellevue City Council and three terms as mayor, he lost a close election for the Metropolitan King County Council.

 

Bozeman bought a house near Seattle's Green Lake and retired.

 

For three years.

 

In 1996 he moved to Bremerton to become executive director of the Olympic College Foundation, and in 2001 he was elected mayor.

 

"Why couldn't downtown Bremerton work?" asked Bozeman, 62. "That's why I ran for mayor. I ran on the platform that people were angry when downtown died. We were on oxygen."

 

This, he said, is his last job. "What a great way to go out, changing a city."

 

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com