About five to six dozen community leaders and residents packed a classroom at Poulsbo’s Marine Science Center late last month to discuss what can be done to keep the center alive. Volunteers, city and county officials, school board and environmental representatives, Rotary Club members, parents, port commissioners and many others came to talk about visions and options.

“What we’re hoping to find out is what would be the future vision…and how it can be sustained. I don’t think anybody wants to see it go away,” said Kathleen Byrne-Barrantes, president of the Liberty Bay Foundation, who together with North Kitsap School District Superintendent Gene Medina presented at the meeting, which was facilitated by Business Journal publisher and Kitsap Economic Development Council Chairman, Lary Coppola.

The center’s future became uncertain in February, when the Marine Science Society announced it could no longer sustain the facility and pulled out. That left the city of Poulsbo, which owns the building, and the school district, which rents it for science education program, searching for solutions. The school district is considering quitting use of the facility starting in the next school year, due to funding shortfalls.

Called by some people the jewel of Kitsap County, the waterfront building was built by the city after the original science center created as a classroom extension outgrew its needs. Construction was funded by bonds, which were refinanced in 2002 and became uncallable until they expire in 2011. Several school districts that supported the facility eventually pulled out, citing lack of funds, leaving the city, the NKSD and the now-defunct marine society as the main partners.

At the meeting, center supporters discussed options that ranged from finding grants to having a multi-use facility with shared use and attracting partners such as Olympic College. Selling the building so it can be used for commercial purposes was mentioned as the last resort, but challenges such as parking would limit the commercial opportunities.

The supporters met a day before the results of a feasibility study were released. Commissioned by the city and the school district, the consultant report looked at the center’s past—and potential future.

The report named several reasons for the facility’s failure, including lack of communication between the three partners, lack of vision, and dwindling cooperation and collaboration.

“The lack of an overall governing auspice to make decisions for the Marine Science Center played a significant role in creating today’s situation,” wrote in his report James Colb, a former center director. That shortfall also played a role when it came to funding. “Although funding was available, the independence of the partners prevented them from arriving at an agreement that might have temporarily resolved the problem,” the report said of the 2004-2005 budget situation. “Had there been a true collaboration in the joint operation on the Marine Science Center, some of the positive balances might have been allocated to sustain the operations of the Marine Science Society.”

The study made suggestions similar to those of the community forum: using the facility for community education, involving potential partners such as the college, the county, and Pacific Science Center, as well as having a single entity such as the school district or the city manage it. Sale was mentioned also as the last resort.

The community forum participants agreed that the feasibility study should be reviewed before further steps can be taken. By the end of the meeting, a half-dozen people volunteered to be on an ad-hoc committee to take the discussion forward.

“The idea of doing this was to get some community energy and synergy,” Medina said.