FORKS — Options for the future of the 1925 facade of Forks High School were discussed during a community meeting last week that was attended by 10 people.
The meeting, held Wednesday, was a requirement for the district to comply with its building permit for the new high school, said Quillayute Valley School District Superintendent Diana Reaume.
No decisions were made, and the district is holding off on making the final decisions on the fate of the facade until after it receives more feedback from the community, she said.
“I’m surprised we didn’t have more response at the meeting from the community,” Reaume said.
The facade is the wall that contained the entryway to the 1925 high school. The rest of the school was torn down in preparation for a new structure.
The West Olympic Peninsula Betterment Association, headed by Don Graftstrom, is attempting to raise the $300,000 estimated as needed to reinforce the structure and keep it as a “gateway” to the new high school.
Options discussed included allowing Primo Construction — which is building the new high school — to reinforce the structure and leave it as a gateway to the school.
The bid alternative for that was about $271,764, plus about $22,828 in taxes, Reaume said.
The school district is not allowed to do fundraising for capital projects like this, she said.
Reaume said several community members have asked about rebidding the project to see if a lesser bid would come in.
“Our original estimate was that it would cost around $125,000 to $150,000 to reinforce it,” she said.
“It would cost between $20,000 and $30,000 just to send it out to bid again.
“Assuming it came in at the very lowest, there would still need to be around $200,000 raised to save it — and we have no indications that it would come in lower than it did.”
The other option would cost the district no additional funds, Reaume said.
That option is to take the terra cotta entrance to the school — which bears the name Quillayute High School — and the 1925 corner stone and incorporate them into the interior of the new school.
“That portion would then be part of Heritage Hallway, and would be on the backside of the entrance — so you would see it as you exited the building,” Reaume said.
That option is already included in the contract with Primo and was the minimal option in the conditional use permit granted by the city of Forks.
The permit also required that the meeting be held and that the community be granted the opportunity to raise funds to save the facade.
Grafstrom said that he and other community members feel strongly that the building be preserved for its historical significance.
Because the school figures heavily into the Twilight novel series, as the setting where main characters Bella Swan and Edward Cullen meet and fall in love, many fans of the series also have spoken up wishing to save it.
The fund, which was started about two years ago, called Twilighters for Forks, contains about $5,000, Grafstrom said.
Primo will hold off tearing down the facade until late winter or spring to give the community time to raise money.
Reaume said some community members asked about leaving the facade as it is — supported by former school walls and supported by plywood.
That, however, is not an option because the structure does not meet building codes or standards to protect against earthquakes, she said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
