FORKS — The $18 million addition to Forks High School — replacing the 1925 portions that were taken off line at the beginning of this school year — is scheduled to break ground in summer 2010 and be ready for classes at the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year.
A group of about 20 community members will meet with architects BRLB of Seattle as well as holding several community forums to see what people want out of the new school, Superintendent Diana Reaume said.
“This discussion will include not only what is needed in the classrooms but also how do we want to handle the 1925 facade and other issues like that,” she said.
The 1925 facade became world-renowned when teens started storming the area to see the place where Arizona author Stephenie Meyer’s books were set.
The main characters Bella Swan and Edward Cullen meet in a biology class at Forks High school.
Quillayute Valley School District passed an $11 million bond in February and expects to get about $7 in state funding to build the new portion of the school.
The tax rate set by the bond is about $1.18 per $1,000 assessed valuation. That means the owner of a $200,000 home will pay an additional $236 annually in property taxes.
The bond failed last November when voters also had the option of another bond to support building a new sports stadium.
The portions of the school were not formally condemned but for all purposes were taken off line because of safety issues, Reaume said.
The design team will meet May 7 to discuss ideas and May 21 to finalize the concepts.
The architects will be at Forks High School June 8 to 11 to hold a design studio to finalize the details.
“It is right at the end of the semester, so it will be hectic,” Reaume said.
“But the great thing is they are right there in the middle of it all, so people can stop and talk to them and give them input, and teachers can tell them things that they would really like to see or really need in the building.”
At the end of that process, a community meeting for input on the design will be held, she said.
Reaume said the design team had already traveled to a variety of schools throughout the Seattle area to see the buildings there.
“The committee really had a chance to see some things they really liked — and some things that they really didn’t like,” she said.
“Through this process those are things that we will talk about.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
