PORT TOWNSEND — Right after sunrise Tuesday morning, a building was divided in half so people can unite.
Construction crews called this structure the “kitchen unit,” and like kitchens the world over, it’s made to bring food and friends together.
That’s what the builders of Pat’s Place, the tiny-home village on 10th Street, hope as the moving process continues.
Last week, the tiny homes themselves — colorfully painted, furnished wooden shelters — were transported on trucks from the Community Build Project site off San Juan Avenue. Their destination is Pat’s Place, the property leased by the nonprofit Bayside Housing & Services.
Eight single units and two doubles form the village on a full city block of land bordered by 10th and Rosecrans streets.
Then came the crane. It was needed to lift the 320-square-foot kitchen up into the air and put it on an extra-long flatbed truck for the 1.6-mile ride to Pat’s Place.
And first, in order to fit it onto the truck, the thing had to be divided into two halves.
The building was constructed to make the process fairly easy, and all went smoothly, with crew members using their hands to guide the halves into place.
While the tiny homes of Pat’s Place are designed to provide a warm, private place to be, the kitchen is meant to be a commons, said Judy Alexander, one of the driving forces behind the project.
Not only will it give the residents of the village a place to cook their meals, but it’ll also have a large dining-room table.
“We’re happy to provide a common place,” she said, “a place for people to be part of a community.”
Pat’s Place is one of two “healing villages” managed by Bayside. Its predecessor is Peter’s Place, a tiny-home community established one year ago adjacent to Port Hadlock’s Community United Methodist Church.
Both villages have their foundations in a code of conduct based on neighborly respect, along with rules prohibiting alcohol and other drugs on the premises; quiet hours at all times and regular self-governance meetings.
Bayside staffers work with the residents on their next steps, be it a new job, a permanent place to live or both.
At Pat’s Place, Bayside has installed water and sewer hookups for the kitchen and sanitation units, said Executive Director Gary Keister.
He couldn’t pinpoint a move-in date for the residents; the hope is for an opening ceremony in January.
“Our goal is heads in beds,” Keister quipped.
Pat’s Place is only a temporary thing — for both the residents and Bayside. The organization, which is leasing the village land with an option to buy, hopes to turn the place into an apartment community.
“We’ve got to start focusing on the more permanent housing. We’re looking at a number of things,” Keister said, including prefabricated bungalows — apartments that are “very attractive and well-built,” he added.
Fundraising to make this project a reality will begin next year, Keister said.
For more information about Bayside and its activities and plans, see www.baysidehousing.org.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
