The Bothell American Legion Post could be in store for major renovations in the new year, which post members hope could boost membership numbers and offer expanded community services.

Post 127 sits on two-and-a-half acres off Highway 9 near 212 Street South, and holds two houses and a hall which have been used by community groups as well as Legion members in the past, Post Commander Burt Marsh said.

On Dec. 28, the American Legion National Commander Dale Barnett visited the Post to take a ceremonial ‘first swing’ with a backhoe at the house to be remodeled.

“He was happy he didn’t have to pick up a sledgehammer,” Burt Marsh said.

An application for rebuilding the house was planned to be filed by the end of December with Snohomish County, Second Vice Commander and contractor Troy McGuire said. He’s also looking at ways to secure funding for the project.

“That’s what we’re working on right now,” McGuire said. “We’re getting people [who are] stepping forward to help us out.”

The new post building will include a large meeting room, offices and a kitchen, which Marsh hopes will be used by community groups.

As older veterans organizations like the Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars struggle to replenish their rosters with younger members, Marsh hopes the new building will allow them to serve more veterans, and attract new members.

“That’s kind of my goal, what I’m working for, getting the younger people interested,” McGuire said.

Kay Marsh with the Post hopes leaving a full service bar out of the new building design will help foster a more inclusive atmosphere.

“We’re hoping to be more family oriented,” Kay Marsh said.

The Post currently serves hundreds of veterans and their families, helping them with benefits and legal paperwork, providing a gather space for families and engaging in outreach, like offering a space for Boy Scout troops or police and business groups to meet.

They also provide two dedicated service officers who help veterans fill out paperwork for benefits and other services.

Among other outreach activities, Post 127 provides six families with either Thanksgiving or Christmas food and aid each year, as well as donating to the homeless camp in Ballard this holiday season.

“This year, we had so many donations that… we donated to the Maltby Food Bank, and we donated to the teenagers there,” Burt Marsh said, on top of providing for the six families.

That community-minded spirit was what drew McGuire to Post 127 in the first place.

“I felt that they tried to do more good in the community than some of them do,” he said.

Post officers hope to have the new building open by July 4.

The new building will be the latest development in the long history of Post 127.

Post 127 was incorporated in early 1920 and met in various locations until 1929, when they bought a property on 240 Street Southwest and Meridian Avenue.

That property was sold in 1967, and the Post built its own hall in 1970 along the Bothell-Everett Highway until it became too expensive to maintain and was sold in 2010.

In 2012, the Post purchased their current location.