Quincy Square Grand Opening Signals New Day for Innovation and Inclusion

It’s a project seven years in the making. A string of impossibles made possible by a group of energized visionaries who dreamed of something better for a former business corridor that had become vacated, silent, and forgotten.

When completed on July 12, Quincy Square will be humming. A place where you can come, hang out, listen to music, celebrate community, and pay homage to a hometown hero whose ability to beat the odds inspired generations of dreamers.

“Quincy Square is truly a one-of-a-kind place in our City,” said Bremerton Mayor Greg Wheeler. “This new public plaza on historic 4th Street will engage people from all over the City to enjoy arts and cultural opportunities, support our businesses, continue our revitalization, and generate interest in our City from across the region and elsewhere. We want Quincy Square to be a place that inspires, creates connection, and sparks creativity, discovery, and exploration, just as (the late) Quincy Jones found here in Bremerton.”

Kitsap Economic Development Alliance also applauds the community-wide effort to reimagine 4th Street into a cultural hub that celebrates innovation and inclusion.

From Boom to Bust

Once the epicenter of a booming business district in downtown Bremerton from 1945 to 1985, 4th Street had become silent. Shop owners vacated. Restaurants closed. The allure of modern shopping malls proved too much to resist, and with the exodus of storefronts, 4th Street was emptied. 

And so it remained, until 2014, when the city announced plans to remove all the trees from 4th Street. Steve Rice, one of the founders of the award-winning architectural firm Rice Fergus Miller, one of the few businesses remaining on 4th Street at the time, was moved to action. He asked the city to hit pause on their plans to allow for an ad-hoc community design team to come up with a better idea. The mayor agreed, Rice mobilized a team, and the 4th Street Action Group was born.  

Legend in the Making

During World War II, Quincy Jones and his family moved from Chicago to Bremerton for a job opportunity at the Puget Sound Navy Shipyard, which had recruited close to 80,000 workers, including 10,000 African Americans, to help meet wartime production demands. One day, Jones and his friends visited the Bremerton Armory.

“There was a spinet piano in the corner. So I went over to the piano slowly, and I touched it, and every cell in my body said this is what you’re going to do the rest of your life,” he said during an interview with Stephen Colbert.

That sound bite was heard by landscape architect and 4th Street Action Group member Emily Russell and proved to be a turning point in the design plans.

“At this moment, we knew our 4th Street design concept had to honor Quincy Jones, who discovered his love for music in Bremerton as a child. Inspired by the moment Jones first discovered his lifelong passion, a piano motif became the organizing element for the street,” said Dean Kelly, principal and architect at Rice Fergus Miller, and vice president of the emerging Music Discovery Center nonprofit in Bremerton, in an article posted on the Rice Fergus Miller website. 

The revitalization efforts represent a joint partnership of public and private funding. And while 4th Street may never again be a hot spot for autonomous big box stores, the new vision aims to draw the community together in a deeper way.

“We acknowledged that blocks full of department stores from Bremerton’s heyday would never return, but a mix of housing, restaurants, art studios, and music venues could prosper,” continued Kelly. “Sound West Group, an early supporter of the vision, restored the iconic Roxy Theater and converted the vacant Sears department store and Ford dealership into the B Flats loft apartments. A new mixed-use housing development is planned, and businesses envisioned early in the planning process, like Dog Days Brewing and Axe & Arrow Gastropub, are now located on 4th Street.”

Art Can Change the World

The driving force behind the Quincy Square project is that art can change the world… Even a parking garage. A dull gray for decades, the structure is now a vibrant, kicky splash of color thanks to the brushes of public artist Kadavien Baylor and three local muralists/artists: Corey Bennett, Erica Applewhite, and Jonathan “Fro” Perry.

“The people here are so warm, so welcoming, and the people make the city. And they’ve made this such a pleasant experience to capture the life and the legacy of Quincy Jones,” said Baylor in a YouTube video posted by Bremerton-Kitsap Access Television.

The color story was influenced by the bright scarves that became the signature of Jones' outfits, as well as the silhouettes of the legendary musical master documenting several moments of his musical life.

“The goal for me is to make a public art project that educates, inspires, uplifts, and I think we did it here at Quincy Square,” continued Baylor.

Judging from the public reaction, there’s no question about it.

“I can’t tell you how many times people walk by and say how thankful they are for what’s being done here,” added Applewhite.

We hope you’ll join us on July 12 and 13 for the Grand Opening of this iconic addition to Bremerton. The event is free and open to all! Click here for details.