West Seattle, Washington

25 Thursday

48℉

“Closed” WS schools: Genesee Hill, Fairmount Park, Boren updates

March 30, 2010 2:20 pm
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Following up on our weekend report that Westside School has reached a lease agreement with Seattle Public Schools to move into the former EC Hughes building in Sunrise Heights, we have updates on three other “closed” schools in West Seattle: First, SPS communications manager Patti Spencer says the district did not receive any lease proposals for either the former Genesee Hill or former Fairmount Park elementary campuses, which were offered in the same round as Hughes; Fairmount has been vacant since summer 2007 (photo left). As for the Westside lease terms at Hughes, in its second year of vacancy after two years of temporarily housing South Lake High School, Spencer says they’ll be made public when the agreement is signed and finalized. Meantime, we also asked about the Boren building‘s status once Chief Sealth High School moves out at the end of this school year – will anyone be moving in this fall? Nothing planned, but this is the future vision for the site, she says:

We are asking the School Board to designate BOREN as our Essential – Interim / Emergency building for the district – in case of a catastrophic failure at any secondary school (larger K-8 also) that we could move into with minimal costs.

The board’s next meeting is April 7th, but the agenda’s not posted yet.

Share This

7 Replies to ""Closed" WS schools: Genesee Hill, Fairmount Park, Boren updates"

  • Michael March 30, 2010 (4:46 pm)

    Hoping that someone shows up to speak AGAINST Boren’s continued use:
    .
    Because it’s a temporary school, often students from other areas of town move in and have no connection to the neighborhood, creating major problems with trash and vandalism. In fact, it can be argued that this is a substantial reason the north Delridge corridor has lagged behind much of the city in improvements, especially in the area immediately around the school.
    .
    Sealth, obviously, has been the exception that proves the rule: since the temp school is in the same area as their families, students seem to treat our neighborhood with much more respect than the other schools who have called Boren “home.”
    .
    Add to this that the school is beginning to fall apart itself (will require substantial fixes in the not-so-distant future), and that the land in this underdeveloped area is begging for neighborhood mixed-use retail/residential, I think just hanging on to the land “just in case” (the word “catastrophic” is obviously designed to tug the heartstrings) is a poor use of taxpayer funds and a disservice to the neighborhood.

  • sam March 30, 2010 (5:21 pm)

    not only is the Boren building run-down, but what ever happened to the plan to develop that site with mixed use development including a GROCERY STORE, which the area really needs? I remember being at a Delridge days a few years ago, and one of the booths set up was from the potential developer, Metrovation?

    here is a link to old West Seattle Herald article, Oct 17, 2007, about that idea

    http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QNskAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zhAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=676%2C4934472

    if that is too cumbersome- google
    ‘boren site could be delridge commons’

  • sam March 30, 2010 (5:24 pm)

    I mean, other than the economy, what happened ?
    as in, did DNDA scrap that idea?

  • delridge girl March 30, 2010 (7:48 pm)

    I don’t think DNDA scrapped that idea, we need to here from folks as yourself to tell DNDA to talk to the School district ASAP!!!!

  • Mike D. March 30, 2010 (9:39 pm)

    As Michael stated above, other than Sealth, the School Districts continued use of Boren as an Interim/Emergency building does not create stability for the neighborhood. A neighborhood that over the last ten years or so has come along ways in achieving more balance in terms of housing and residents. The District needs to either make it a permanent school or surplus it out when the Real Estate market improves. It would be very helpful if DNDA could let us all know if they are still interested in their vision for the Boren site or whether it has been permanently scrapped. Paging DNDA, white courtesy telephone please…….

  • Donn March 30, 2010 (10:05 pm)

    @Sam – We are still talking about the Boren building. Come to the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting at the Youngstown Arts Center on Wednesday April 21 to talk about it more.

  • NGKL March 31, 2010 (8:26 am)

    It would be fantastic to have a grocery store and other retail where the Boren building is now. I hope that works out!

Sorry, comment time is over.