BANGOR, Wash. -- A group of pacifists are building a giant 'peace pagoda,' featuring a bronze Buddha statue, next to the Navy's Trident nuclear submarine base as a permanent protest against the subs' deployment.
About 50 people Sunday held a ground-breaking ceremony for the 'peace pagoda' that will loom 74 feet into the sky adjacent to the base at Bangor -- in the past target of large protests in which scores of demonstrators climbed over fences into the waiting arms of arresting officers.
'We may have many different beliefs that divide us, but we are unified in the belief of peace,' said Shelley Douglas, who led the group in prayer.
'Our pagoda will be a sign of unity and a beacon of peace for all people,' she said, 'and it will be a symbol of peace that will help prepare us for the coming of Trident.'
The pagoda, to be built by hand, will be constructed by the Revs. Hanawa, Sakai, Gyotoku and Suzuki, four Japanese monks of a pacifist order called Nichihonzan Myohoji who burned incense and chanted as people gathered.
Douglas said the four monks have been 'traveling the world promoting peace.'
More than 50 pagodas like the one to be built near the base have already been erected by the monks in Asia, she said.
The structure will house the larger-than-life bronze statue used in the ground-breaking services and will be located at the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, headquarters for the group opposed to the Trident submarine and missile system.
Also present at the ceremony was Poulsbo Mayor Clyde Caldart, who lifted a golden shovel and broke ground to mark the spot where the pagoda will stand, by next summer if plans go according to schedule.
