KITSAP HEADQUARTERS – Just a few feet outside the chain-link fence of the Bangor Submarine Base, where a warning sign marks the military restricted area, is a Peace Pagoda under construction.
Next year, the Buddhist stupa – a symbol of world peace – is expected to be open to the public, according to Nipponzan Myohoji, the Japanese Buddhist order that is carrying out the project on the site of the Ground Zero Nonviolent Action Center on Clear Creek Road.
The shell of the pagoda was completed last week when workers from Kingston-based 3D SD Construction, LLC were on site spraying concrete to build the dome portion of the structure.
The completion of the dome – the most important part of the tower-like structure – marks a milestone in the pagoda’s years of construction, which dates back to the 1980s, said Sally Noedel, a member of Nipponzan Myohoji and Ground Zero.
“This whole action is really about peace and promoting world peace,” Noedel said. “Every single person who comes here comes here to promote world peace, and people feel really strongly about that.”
The history of anti-nuclear power goes back to the 1980s
The project was first proposed by Nichidatsu Fujii, leader of the Nipponzan Myohoji, when he declared in 1980 that Ground Zero should become the site of a peace pagoda. Fujii built the first Nipponzan Peace Pagoda in Japan just after World War II, and since then many have been built around the world, said Senji Kanaeda, a monk of the Nipponzan Myohoji who co-leads the project.
In 1982, the pagoda at Ground Zero was destroyed by unknown arsonists. The previous pagoda, ten times larger than the current one, was under construction when the dome burned down and the symbols inside the pagoda were smashed. According to a now-unsecret FBI file, no one was arrested, although a trail of evidence led to the base in Bangor, where the Navy’s eight Trident nuclear missile submarines are now stationed.
Background: After 40 years, anti-nuclear activists finally build a peace pagoda in the shadow of Bangor
That same year, the USS Ohio, the first of 18 Ohio-class submarines armed with Trident missiles, arrived in Bangor and was greeted by over 9,000 protesters. As the Kitsap Sun previously reported, 17 people were arrested, but no charges were ever filed.
In 2019, Nipponzan Myohoji finally received permission to rebuild the pagoda and began construction that same year.
The dome will be white and sit on the round red brick part of the stupa, according to the latest design of the Nipponzan Myohoji Pagoda.
When completed next year, the pagoda will likely be the third Nipponzan Myohoji Peace Pagoda in the United States, alongside the Bangor base, followed by the first in Massachusetts and the second in New York, Kanaeda said.
There are plans to add several art elements to the structure, including a sorin, three bronze reliefs and a Buddha statue. The statue and reliefs will depict stories from four important episodes in Buddha’s life: the birth of Buddha, the enlightenment of Buddha, the first sermon of Buddha and the death of Buddha, Kanaeda said.
Although the pagoda is a Buddhist stupa that houses the ashes of Buddha, the donors and volunteers from Nipponzan Myohoji and Ground Zero who make this project possible with labor and money belong to different religions and some are atheists, Kanaeda said.
The meaning of the pagoda is essentially: “Do not take the lives of others,” Kanaeda said.
Nipponzan Myohoji looks forward to sharing this beautiful place with the community, Noedel said.
