LAKE STEVENS — The doors of a new community center are now open to Navy families living at Constitution Park, a new military housing neighborhood in the east part of town.
Officers and their family members, employees of Forest City Military Communities Northwest and Mayor Vern Little attended a celebration of the center’s opening last week.
“We have a lot of young Navy families here so we want to basically build a really attractive indestructible building and we think we’ve done that,” said Michael Nanney, vice president of Forest City Military Communities Northwest, the company that manages Constitution Park.
The 3,900-square-foot community center serves as a leasing office as well as a place where families can meet, exercise and entertain.
It includes a multipurpose room, an exercise facility and adjacent children’s play room. Use of the rooms at the center will be free for residents and Forest City Military Communities will provide an active schedule of programs and events.
“It’s going to be so nice to see the kids play and have a place to play,” said Maureen Coury, who moved into the community in May with her husband, Capt. Michael Coury, who serves as commanding officer of Naval Station Everett.
Families first moved into the neighborhood of 141 homes in August 2009. A total of 66 Navy families who were living in military housing in Seattle moved to Constitution Park to be closer to Naval Station Everett.
“The demand for base housing here at Constitution Park is always very high,” Michael Coury said. “We have numerous families on the waiting list. This community center is a great addition.”
The list includes the names of soldiers and their families who will be serving on the USS Nimitz, an aircraft carrier that will replace the USS Lincoln at Naval Station Everett at the end of the year, Coury said.
He expects there will be a transition period in the community when families of sailors serving aboard the USS Lincoln leave and new families move into Constitution Park.
Residents have already expressed interest in reserving the center’s rooms, said Alicia Daugherty, the residential services manager at Constitution Park.
“Everyone is very excited,” she said. “We have one resident that has already signed up to use the (multipurpose) room for her daughter’s 16th birthday party,”
The housing project was part of a public-private partnership by Navy Region Northwest and Forest City Military Communities.
The neighborhood also includes children’s play equipment, basketball courts and walking trails.
Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.
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