PORT TOWNSEND — The idea of using the Mountain View Elementary School campus for affordable housing reaped the most interest of the possibilities for the land that were floated at a joint city-school district meeting on Thursday.
The school’s closure at the end of the 2009-2010 school year will be a new beginning if Port Townsend City Council and Port Townsend School District officials can come to terms on the future of the campus.
No decisions were made at the joint meeting.
Superintendent Tom Opstad said that the district has looked at selling, leasing or trading the facility, which was built in 1961, in an effort to generate revenue for the district.
“Selling the land gives us a one-time return,” Opstad said.
“Acquiring land in a trade would create an area for future growth, but that isn’t the trend right now.
“What we don’t want is this to be another Lincoln building that just sits there and isn’t used.”
The Lincoln building at 450 Fir St., is an old school building that houses the district administrative offices, but which is largely empty.
The district decided in 2007 to close Mountain View because of high operation and maintenance costs weighed against declining enrollment.
Elementary students will attend Grant Street Elementary, 1637 Grant St., as of the 2010-2011 school year, leaving the facility on the corner of Blaine and Walker Streets empty.
The campus houses the city’s swimming pool.
Opstad said he would prefer to find a way to generate money from the property, and create a steady stream of revenue for the district.
City Manager David Timmons presented some of the options that he and Rick Sepler, city planner, have considered for the site.
“Mountain View has been one of the discussions which has come up at the town meetings,” Timmons said.
