The Islamic Center of Tri-Cities is adding a building to its home on Bombing Range Road in West Richland. And the new facility will serve the entire community, the center’s president said.

The nearly 10,000-square-foot building will include a large multipurpose room, totaling about 6,300 square feet. It’ll also have a lobby, restrooms, kitchen and classrooms.

The new building won’t attach to the existing 6,800-square-foot mosque at the site.

Instead, it will stand on its own.

A roughly 80-car parking lot also is planned.

Community groups will be able to use the new building for weddings, meetings and other events, said Yar Sidiqi, president of the Islamic Center of Tri-Cities.

“The goal is for us to use it when we need it, but it’s also independent enough that if someone in the community wants to come and rent it, we can rent it to them,” Sidiqi said.

A building permit is in the works, and construction will start once that’s in hand, he said.

Sidiqi estimates construction will take 18 months. He declined to provide a cost estimate at this stage.

The Islamic Center of Tri-Cities was established in 1979. Seven years later, in 1986, the group bought a small home to act as its headquarters, but it eventually outgrew that space.

Then in 1996, the center moved into its current home at 2900 Bombing Range Road.

But growth has continued over the last 27 years, and the center once again needs more room to accommodate all those who come to pray and fellowship.

Today, 400 to 500 families are part of the center.

Leaders started working toward an expansion in 2011, but the group was limited by a 33-foot access easement that was in place on the eastern part of the 2.5-acre site. Earlier this year, Sidiqi was able to have it vacated, which freed up more space on the property for the new building.

The center also purchased an adjoining lot, which will be home to a play area for children.

Sidiqi said he’s excited about what the new building will mean for the West Richland community, which doesn’t have many large gathering spaces for events and activities.

And it will mean more room for the Islamic Center of Tri-Cities to continue its growth.

“We are at least 20 nations of Muslims coming and gathering in this facility. When we stand side by side, there are at least 15 to 20 languages spoken amongst us, but we all have the same beliefs. It’s an international community connected together by our religious belief,” Sidiqi said.

He noted that the center has become an ingrained part of the Tri-Cities community.

“Since 1979, we have done nothing but good for the community and have become part of the fabric of the community,” including helping those in need, participating in community events and so on, he said.

Building the new facility is an extension of that, he said. “It’s not only for us. We’re planning to make sure we have something from the whole community to use,” Sidiqi said.