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Jan. 11, 2010 at 2:00am

Historic Tacoma Schools To Be Sold?

From the fine folks over at Historic Tacoma:

Historic Schools may be sold
As reported by Debbie Cafazzo in the 12/16/09 issues of The Tacoma News Tribune article "Tacoma schools eye land sales, swaps"                                  1924 Gray Middle School, 3109 S. 60th Street.  Located near Edison Elementary in southwest Tacoma, the site also contains a gym/shop and several unused buildings.  One is the old Barlow site, used as a high school from 1904-1910.  School board member Kurt Miller suggests the district seek ideas from the community on what it would like to see happen on the Gray site.  "Let's see what their ideas are and if they fit with what the district can do and afford.  To see photos of Gray & Barlow, click here.               

1925 Gault Middle School, 1115 E. Division Lane.  Students from Gault now attend First Creek Middle School.  Metro Parks' Eastside Community Pool is still open on the site, but the school building is closed.  The site is 10.6 acres, including athletic fields, and the building  measures nearly 110,000 square feet.   
     All three buildings were part of an historic resource inventory completed this winter by Kingstree Studios under contract to Tacoma Public Schools.  The next phase of the project is to nominate the most significant schools to the Tacoma Register of Historic Places.  School Board members and Superintendent Jarvis appear committed to preserving their schools and funded the inventory and research necessary for nomination.                     
     But now is the time to speak up about possible adaptive re-use of these schools.  Does anyone have suggestions for these buildings, which may be surplused in the not too distant future?  


Hmmm... I wonder if the McMenamin Brothers are looking for some more projects?

comments [11]  |  posted under tacoma
Comments

by seejane
on 1/11/2010 @ 12:15pm		my snarky side says turn them into "poor houses". All the amenities are there... large kitchen, showers, toilets. A shop for job training a gym for fun. All you need are a bunch of surplus army cots and some Red Cross quilts.

If there was the money Boys & Girls Clubs or community centers would be great. And with the rest of the space - low cost offices for small business or nonprofits.

Finally, keep the sports fields as parks. Demo the buildings and plant trees. Timber prices will be up again when it's time to log.

by NineInchNachos
on 1/11/2010 @ 12:41pm		I can see CLAW buying one on the cheap and opening a private Cartoontist's League School for Absurd Young Women (CLSAYW))... need to start thinking of better anagrams now.

by fredo
on 1/11/2010 @ 12:49pm		"...the district seeks ideas from the community on what it would like to see happen at the gray site" Kurt Miller speaking on behalf of the Tacoma School Board.

The School Board is getting ready to launch 2 levies on the public in just 3 weeks to make up for a shortfall in education funding. How can the district hold onto old surplus property in the face of this shortfall which the district has told us "hurts the children." The property should be disposed of in accordance with surplus property disposal provisions. Holding this property for no reason while school children are suffering hurts our children. Why does the district want to hurt children?

by The Jinxmedic
on 1/11/2010 @ 2:17pm		Think of the kittens!

by Non Sequitur
on 1/11/2010 @ 5:17pm		Sell the properties and not even bother with Levies that won't pass (even though only a cold-hearted SOB would vote "no") .

by Mofo from the Hood
on 1/11/2010 @ 7:57pm		That Gray building, sans school emblems, would suit me just fine as my personal stately mansion.

by Erik
on 1/11/2010 @ 8:54pm		Rumor worth investigating: A Verizon Wireless store is going in the space by Subway on Pacific Avenue. True or False?

by seejane
on 1/12/2010 @ 11:20am		what kittens? I want a kitten!

by Jake
on 1/12/2010 @ 7:34pm		Eric, kinda of off subject but a Verizon retailer (not a corporate store) is going in next to Pita Pit. I am told they were looking at UWT but couldn't come to terms with them.

by Crenshaw Sepulveda
on 1/13/2010 @ 12:30am		I wish the Verizon retailer luck on Pacific by the Pita Pit. I wouldn't have thought it would be a good location for such a business but maybe they know something I don't. I'm not sure of Tacoma's mobile phone buying habits, will people come to the Pacific location from all over Tacoma or are they counting on some seriously good foot traffic?

by Thorax O'Tool
on 1/13/2010 @ 1:33am		If they have the interior all white with stark minimalist displays/furnishings and harsh bright fluorescent lighting, then they will be a "destination" store. People will come to them, regardless of location and their dumbed-down products.
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