Fairmount Park Elementary’s landmark nomination to be reviewed

(2011 WSB photo of Fairmount Park Elementary School, 38th and Findlay)
As Seattle Public Schools gets ready for construction on three West Seattle sites (and others around the city), now that the BEX IV levy has passed, the schools are going through the city landmark-nomination process – generally routine if major changes or demolition is planned for buildings of this type and age (almost half a century, in this case). The review of Fairmount Park Elementary‘s nomination is on the agenda for the next Landmarks Board meeting, 3 pm next Wednesday on the 40th floor of the Muni Tower downtown. While FP is not slated for demolition, it is scheduled for major work, including an added classroom wing, so it can reopen in fall 2014, seven years after the district closed it.

35this35mph February 14, 2013 (8:10 pm)

I am a neighbor, and a parent of a potential Fairmount Park student if/when it is reopened. I looked but could not stomach reading the whole nomination document… I don’t want to be a jerk but; I don’t get it. The building seems seriously pedestrian to me, with no architectural interest. I am all for refurbishing it and reopening it but why saddle it with the restrictions that landmark status would bestow?

WSB February 14, 2013 (8:54 pm)

35 – it’s pretty much a required part of the process, as noted when Denny and Sealth were reviewed during the Denny teardown and Sealth renovation process: https://westseattleblog.com/2008/04/denny-sealth-updates-landmark-nominations-dot-voting – but rather than just treat it like a bureaucratic formality not worth noting, I thought people would be interested, so I wrote this up. The West Seattle schools currently in use as schools that are on the city landmark list right now are Gatewood, Madison, and WSHS.
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http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/SW.htm
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TR

B February 14, 2013 (9:03 pm)

SPS suck. Wish the levies had not passed.

35this35mph February 14, 2013 (9:10 pm)

Got it. I guess I thought someone musta had some fire in the belly for it to come to that level of attention.

Ajax February 15, 2013 (1:22 am)

“seriously pedestrian…with no architectural interest” to one may be “seriously awesome example of mid-century modern public architecture” to another.

Mat February 15, 2013 (12:54 pm)

I’m with Ajax (and like 35th am also the parent of a future student).

I’m excited to hear about this progress!

35this35mph February 15, 2013 (2:04 pm)

No doubt Ajax and Max, I was expressing an opinion and said as much: “I don’t get it.” And I am not in any way endorsing tearing it down or seriously altering it. I just imagine that landmark status would create layers of administrative difficulty in doing whatever needs to be done to make it functional.