Bremerton’s Marvin Williams Center Grows from Vision to Vital Institution
The Marvin Williams Recreation Center is more than just a community center – it’s a living legacy of love, leadership, and cultural connection.
Built with the vision of the late Bishop Lawrence Robertson and sustained by his wife, Dr. Lillian Lockett Robertson, the center has become a vital “third place” for the Bremerton community—a space for gathering, learning, healing, and celebration.
Originally from Houston, Dr. Robertson, an OB-GYN who now practices in Tacoma, came to Washington in 2012 for a women’s health and wellness retreat. It was there she met her husband, Bishop Robertson, a native Texan who had moved to Bremerton for military service.
Bishop Robertson was a pastor at the Emanuel Apostolic in Bremerton and an influential community leader. He was also on the board of the Bremerton Housing Authority. About 20 years ago the Bremerton Community Center was torn down much to Bishop Robertson’s disappointment. He voted against its demolition but the city ended up tearing it down because they felt like they could build another one but it never happened.
“He just felt like it was his assignment to build one because he had a large congregation, was a leader in the community, and just knew that the community needed the place to grow and thrive and gather,” she said.
In 2018, that vision came to life with the opening of the Marvin Williams Recreation Center, named for Bremerton High School basketball standout Marvin Williams. Williams went on to win an NCAA Championship with the University of North Carolina and enjoyed a 17-year NBA career. As a child, Williams struggled to find local courts to play on in the summer—often having to travel to Bainbridge Island or Poulsbo.
So the two teamed up to help make the center a reality.
“The purpose of the center was to be a third place, not to be home, not school, not work, not church, but that place where the community comes together to grow,” she said.
It was important to Bishop Robertson to build the center in West Bremerton because there was not a gathering place there after the community center was demolished.
“The Puget Sound shipyard is there, but there’s no place for people to gather and learn and grow and participate in programs and services for folks that are in need, people who are at risk and need those opportunities to feel like they’re part of the community,” she said.
“Our goal is to be a hub for wellness, for education, with our after school programs, with our STEM Academy, a place for kids to come and play basketball, do their homework, and be mentored,” she said. “That’s why the center was necessary.”
“We needed a hub,” she said. “We need a gathering space for people to connect and really grow together and be a community together.”
Sadly, Bishop Robertson died just 18 months after the center opened. In the wake of his passing, the board and community encouraged Dr. Robertson to take the helm and carry on her husband’s dream. So she stepped up and has been running the facility ever since, continuing the mission they believed in for the community.
Today, the Marvin Williams Center is thriving. They host an annual fundraising gala every August and take part in Kitsap Great Give. She handles much of the grant writing and has built partnerships with groups like Delta Dental, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, the Northwest Family Medicine Residency Program, Kitsap Strong, and more. She also serves on the Olympic College Foundation board to stay connected locally.
“We serve the historically marginalized community that may not be able to get to the YMCA,” Dr. Robertson said. “They don’t have a membership at a country club, but would come to the center to do arts and crafts, participate in STEM programs, play basketball and participate in mentorship programs.”
Adults, meanwhile, can take advantage of free classes on diabetes and hypertension management, cooking and nutrition, and general wellness. The center has also trained community health workers to run support groups and help residents make lasting lifestyle changes.
“We’re working on building a healthier community, healing the community through support groups, through education about hypertension, diabetes, through exercise, line dancing, chair volleyball, and cooking classes,” she said.
For Robertson, one of the most rewarding parts of running the center is seeing young people thrive. The center’s STEM Academy, which is led by a bioengineering major from the University of North Carolina, recently took 12 students to a regional STEM competition. Last year, the team competed for the first time and took first place in underwater robotics.
Another thing that excites Robertson is seeing people take control of their health. She finds it incredibly rewarding when community members lower their blood pressure, understand their medications better, and learn to advocate for themselves. Moments like someone realizing they need to stay healthy to be around for their grandkids—those “lightbulb” moments—bring her real joy and make the work feel truly worthwhile.
In April, the center hosted about 250 local students on a field trip, giving them a hands-on look at careers in healthcare. Through stations on pharmacy tech, physical therapy, nursing, EMT, surgical tech, and more, students learned about job opportunities in the medical field. The event was in partnership with Olympic College and Virginia Mason Fransican Health.
During COVID, the center hosted vaccine clinics with a focus on reaching people who were hesitant or didn’t trust the vaccine. They created a welcoming space where community members could hear from physicians who looked like them, ask questions, and feel comfortable. Nursing students from Olympic College gave the shots, Kitsap Public Health provided the vaccines, and there were Q&As and even entertainment to help ease fears. The effort was a success, thanks to partnerships with Olympic College, United Way, Kitsap Community Foundation, and others.
“It’s a way to bring the community together,” she said. “It’s a way for everybody to feel like they belong and have a place where their cultures can be expressed unashamedly and their cultures can be expressed where they live and work and play. And so it’s just a great opportunity.”
Some of the future goals Robertson has for the center are to add more programming for seniors and to help them feel like a part of the community as well.
In addition to its programs, the center serves as a community event space, hosting everything from weddings and birthday parties to comedy shows, wrestling matches, the Bremerton Symphony, and more. It’s become a true hub for the community—and that’s the work they continue every day.
The center offers custom event experiences thanks to an in-house designer who can decorate for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and more. Unlike traditional venues, the center allows people to bring in their own food and use the industrial kitchen—something especially meaningful for people who want to have the traditional dishes from their culture.
“Their music, their foods that they love, their celebration matters to them because they can express themselves in this community center,” she said. “Their cultural expression is allowed there and I think that’s a beautiful thing.”
Robertson hopes that everyone who walks through the doors of the Marvin Williams Recreation Center feels a sense of calm, peace, and belonging. That welcoming atmosphere, she believes, is a reflection of her late husband’s vision and values.
“He had such a passion and heart for the community, and he was so influential,” she said. “He was a pastor for about 45 years locally in the community, and his spirit and his concern for the wellbeing of the community is really what I think people feel when they come into the building. It was just his passion, his heartbeat, his desire for people to grow, learn, the betterment of people was so palpable, and that’s the spirit that has caught on into the center.”
She believes that sense of welcome also comes through in the way the staff shows up for the community.
“It remains in us through the customer service we provide, and that’s how we embody that,” she said. “It is people having a great experience when they come great customer service, we try to be very accommodating to folks with special needs, special needs for decorating, weddings, special needs for birthday parties, special needs for their banquets, and that spirit of unity and community comes through through our customer service.”
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