PORT ANGELES — The city of Port Angeles has offered to purchase the former Lincoln School property from the North Olympic History Center with the intent to preserve the facade of the school and redevelop the site into multifamily housing.
The offer, which totals $788,000 and includes the swap of a city-owned commercial property, will be on the table until the end of the month, according to a letter from City Manager Nathan West.
The city has requested a response no later than noon on June 30.
David Brownell, the executive director of the North Olympic History Center (NOHC), wrote in an email Friday that the NOHC board will meet Monday afternoon to discuss the city’s offer.
The city has proposed to acquire the entire property located at 926 W. Eighth St. for $599,000 in cash and exchange property located at 935 W. 10th St., valued at $189,000.
Funding is available from the city’s housing rehabilitation special revenue fund, which supports affordable housing projects in Port Angeles, the city stated in a press release.
If the parties reach an agreement, the city plans to seek public-private partnerships to develop affordable and multifamily housing on the site.
“Additional resources are available to leverage for future phases of this project,” the city stated in the release.
The history center purchased the former Lincoln Elementary School for $210,000 in 1991 with the goal of transforming it into a museum.
Since then, the organization has invested $500,000 into stabilizing the building, including constructing a new roof, internal structure enhancement and ripping out an old wooden floor and replacing it with concrete, Brownell said in a previous interview.
NOHC also performed a seismic retrofit, and the second story of the unreinforced masonry building was “entirely gutted and reframed,” he said.
The history center put out a Request for Proposal in April 2023 for a new entity to take over the project, and then it announced plans that November to have the 1916 Lincoln School building demolished following a multiyear process that included researching alternative uses.
Brownell estimated in January 2024 that full restoration of the building would cost about $12 million.
The Port Angeles City Council allocated $50,000 last year for a study to determine whether or not the site could be developed into multifamily housing. But in its press release, the city stated proposals to evaluate and repurpose the site were declined by the history center. Instead, NOHC offered to sell a portion of the property that excluded the Lincoln School while moving forward with demolition plans, the city said.
West wrote in a letter to Brownell dated Wednesday that the city’s interest is in both historic preservation and an opportunity for additional housing.
“Demolishing the school would erase an important part of our community’s history,” West said in the city’s press release. “This offer presents a mutually beneficial path forward that protects history while serving the needs of local families. We are stepping up as the last hope for saving this building, and we hope the North Olympic History Center recognizes the importance of its own mission — to keep history alive.”
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Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-417-3531 or by email at brian.mclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
