FORKS — Saving the facade that is all that remains of the 1925 portion of Forks High School would cost more than a quarter-million dollars — and some residents are scrambling to see if they can pull it off.
Reports on local efforts to organize a plan for raising $271,000 to reinforce the brick facade and transform it into a stand-alone monument on the redeveloped Forks High School campus will be heard at a public hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, at the Quillayute Valley School District Board Room, 390 S. Forks Ave.
All options for saving the structure will be heard at the meeting, Quillayute Valley School District Superintendent Diana Reaume said.
Under terms of the city’s conditional-use permit for the construction of new portions of the high school at 191 S. Spartan Ave., the School Board, which decided Oct. 1 it couldn’t afford to keep the structure, is required to hold a public hearing and give the public 45 days to come up with alternative funding.
The facade will be torn down if the money cannot be raised to save it, Reaume said.
Many residents have told her they want to save the structure, which has nostalgic value for generations of West End families.
Twilight help
They may be helped by fans of Twilight, a four-novel and movie series set in Forks and Port Angeles, who have offered donations to keep the last remaining part of the old building.
Twilight fans often visit the school where fictional heroine Bella Swan meets her vampire love, Edward Cullen.
“I could see a combination of local support and supporters who want to save it because of Twilight,” Reaume said.
“Saving the facade would be more for the local value than for the Twilight value,” said Kaci Wyatt, project manager for the district.
The facade was included as an alternative in the bid for construction of the new high school, awarded on Oct. 1 to Primo Construction Inc. of Carlsborg.
Bids too high
The $12.2 million was the highest the school district could pay for the construction of the high school — and that is less than the lowest of the seven bids submitted, Reaume said.
“The budget was $12.2 million, and the lowest bid was $12.6,” she said.
The School Board took what are called “deductive alternatives” to bring the bid down to the budget.
“We were forced to take some deductive alternatives to make up that $400,000,” Wyatt said.
Some of those included composition roofing and siding instead of using metal, as well as some landscaping features, she said.
“As it stands, we are on budget, but there is no room to spend any money on this or any other alternatives,” Wyatt said.
The district had other additive alternatives that weren’t approved, as well. Those included a covered walkway and painting the existing building to match the new building.
Fundraising again
Don Grafstrom, who led an effort to attempt to save the Forks High School building in 2008, said he will participate in fundraising options again.
That effort combined with Twilight fans from throughout the nation for a fund called Twilghters for Forks.
Reaume said that she has seen a community group in the beginning stages but that a website or donation location is not yet firm.
The school district is not legally allowed to campaign for funds for such a project, Reaume said.
Fans offer donations
Many fans of the Twilight saga of books have called offering donations, Grafstorm said.
The building plays an important role in the books as the location where the main characters Edward and Bella meet and fall in love.
The brick structure of the 1925 building is described in detail in the book.
About 65,000 fans have visited Forks this year so far to see the sights and take pictures of the area — including the high school — according to numbers recorded at the Forks Visitor Center.
Because of the many people attached to the school, the district is in the process of having 1,500 bricks from the demolished portion salvaged to be sold at the 2011 Forks Scholarship Auction, Reaume said.
The money from the auction will not be used to save the facade, Reaume said.
“That money will go right back to the kids,” she said.
Construction of the new 39,500-square-foot school complex will begin later this month and is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.
The new complex will house six regular classrooms, two resource classrooms, a computer lab, a special-needs classroom, a band and choir room, a multipurpose classroom, a technology lab, a library and the school’s offices.
After completion, the portion of the school built in 1963 will be demolished.
Additions to the school built in 2000 will be incorporated into the new building.
School district voters approved an $11 million construction bond in February.
The state is providing $7 million.
Alternatives
Because a foundation or organization to raise funds to save the 1925 facade likely would not have the means to return donations if enough money is not raised, a couple of alternatives are still possible, Wyatt said.
Although the cost of such a project is unknown right now, a possible solution might be to remove the terra-cotta entrance, which bears the original name of the school, Quillayute High School, and the cornerstone of the building and incorporate them into the new building, Wyatt said.
Grafstrom also suggested a model of the building and a special plaque identifying the group that raised money.
Implementation of an idea would depend on cost.
The fund started in 2008 currently has $3,500 of seed money, he said.
That would not be enough even for the model — which would be around $10,000, Grafstrom said.
For more information on Grafstrom’s effort, phone him at 360-374-3141.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
