PORT TOWNSEND — The Peninsula Housing Authority has a little less than a year to present a plan to turn the Lincoln Building into a senior housing center.
Otherwise, the historic building at 450 Fir St. on the Port Townsend High School campus will be demolished.
“If I were betting on this, I wouldn’t know where to go right now,” Superintendent David Engle said.
With this in mind, the district is preparing a demolition plan that would kick in should an acceptable proposal not materialize by the April 1, 2017, deadline.
The building opened in 1894 as the town’s only school, serving in that capacity until 1980, when it was deemed unsafe for classes.
It housed the district’s administrative headquarters until 2012. It has since fallen into such disrepair that it is now used only for storage, with entry restricted.
In November, the Port Townsend School Board 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.
On Monday, two housing authority staff members presented the School Board with a progress report.
The board took no action and will receive another project update in the fall.
The housing authority told the board that the agency’s success will depend on the support of three state agencies.
The Peninsula Housing Authority is seeking funding from the Housing Trust Fund and the Housing Finance Commission as well as evaluation and certification by the Historical Review Board.
If it cannot procure support from all three agencies, the project cannot go forward, according to Engle, who estimated its cost in the neighborhood of $14 million to $16 million.
“We are hopeful that it will create some affordable senior housing,” Engle said of the project.
“It’s what the community needs, and it will need it more as everyone ‘grays out’ here.”
If the building is demolished, its bricks and other materials would be recycled into something that would pay tribute to the school and recognize its role in Port Townsend’s development, Engle said.
“We need to get it off the books either way,” he said.
“One of the ideas is to create a performance venue with a stage, using some of the materials from the original school.”
An amphitheater in that location would have a “great vista,” an unimpeded view of Port Townsend, the water and the mountains, Engle said.
That broad line-of-sight has made the building a desirable location for an AT&T cellular tower, which is situated there now.
The tower generates $1,252 a month in rental income for the district.
The district is currently renegotiating the terms of the lease with plans to relocate it onto the roof of the adjacent high school, Engle said.
At one point, 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.
That restriction would also be in place should the district choose to pursue the amphitheater option.
Last year, it was possible to fold the demolition funds into a bond issue.
After the housing authority showed interest, the district concentrated on other projects.
The $40.9 million bond issue was approved with more than 70 percent of the vote in February.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
