PORT TOWNSEND — A historic building scheduled for demolition this fall got a two-year stay of execution while it is determined if it can be retrofitted to serve as low-income housing.
The Port Townsend School Board on Monday unanimously approved a resolution to allow the Peninsula Housing Authority to develop a feasibility study on the cost and process of reconfiguring the dilapidated 30,000-square-foot structure into housing units.
The school district began the permitting process earlier this year for the destruction of the Lincoln Building at 450 Fir St., which was built in the 1890s and opened in 1984 as the town’s only school.
“We are giving them until April 2017 to come up with a plan,” said David Engle, the district superintendent.
“We have postponed plans for its demolition and have given them enough time to determine what they want to do, how much it will cost and where the funding is coming from.”
Engle said the school district would not provide funding for the conversion, estimated as high as $10 million.
Kay Kassinger, the Peninsula Housing Authority’s executive director, said in email Tuesday that her organization is in conversations with the Port Townsend School District about the opportunity it may have to convert the building to an affordable housing use.
“At this stage, we requested the School District postpone demolition of the building until we can complete our due diligence on the project,” she wrote.
“They have agreed to this and we expect to begin our due diligence soon.”
According to the resolution, the Peninsula Housing Authority has shown interest in exploring uses of the building.
Destruction of the building was once discussed as being a part of the activities that would be funded by a proposed $40.98 million bond if voters had approved it, but Monday’s agreement “means that we have one less headache right now,” Engle said.
“We don’t have to worry about this, so it frees us to concentrate on the bond,” he said.
The bond would be earmarked for the construction of a new Grant Street Elementary School and a retrofit of the high school to make it accessible for the disabled.
The Lincoln Building was deemed unsafe for classes in 1980 and was used until 2012 as the district’s administrative headquarters.
It has fallen into such disrepair that it is now used only for storage, with entry restricted.
This hasn’t stopped students from breaking in and causing mischief, district officials have said, a situation that could lead to injuries.
“It’s an attractive nuisance,” Engle said. “Kids are always looking for ways to get in there.”
He said the last break-in was in the spring.
Since moving its administrative offices across the street, the school district has sought to rehabilitate the building by soliciting tenants in 2014 who would finance a face-lift with a $1 yearly long-term lease, but there were no takers, Facilities Director Brad Taylor said in May.
The district was attempting to solicit companies such as Google or Microsoft to take over the building, but its use was limited because school property cannot be used as a bar or restaurant where liquor is served.
The district’s announcement about an impending demolition drew opposition from those who value its historical importance, including Jefferson County Historical Society archivist Marsha Moratti, who also is a member of the city Historic Preservation Committee.
“It’s a local building with a great deal of history,” she said.
“It would be a shameful waste to tear it down.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
