ORIGINAL MONDAY REPORT: Two months ago, we reported on the then-pending sale of West Seattle’s last freestanding Christian Science church, at 3601 SW Barton [map]. There was no hint at the time of who was buying it and what the one-acre site’s future would be; it was being marketed with possibilities including eight new homes. The sale still hasn’t shown up in county records but a new filing with the city proposes a use for the site – a preschool. WorldKids School, which already has two locations in West Seattle and others elsewhere, has filed an early-stage site plan that would convert the church building into a preschool. The site plan also shows a playground at the northeast corner of the site. We have an inquiry out to WorldKids seeking more information about their plan. As for the former church, a regional spokesperson for the denomination told us that the small group that had continued to meet at the site was disbanding. This wouldn’t be the first former West Seattle church converted into a preschool – we reported last year on Westside School (WSB sponsor) doing the same thing with the former New Apostolic Church adjacent to its Arbor Heights campus.
ADDED TUESDAY: We heard back today from WorldKids founder Nicole Chaudry:
WorldKids School has been looking for properties that can serve more families in our community for a while now. We currently have a 1-2 year waitlist at all of our current locations and this new space will allow us to serve more families.
We are thrilled that the church group has agreed to sell the building to our organization. Plans are very preliminary at this point but we will be obtaining financing through the SBA. The remodel, permits etc will take 6-12 months. We will remodel the church building in order to bring it up to code and make it suitable for our preschool center. We have no plans to develop the property but might expand our playground at some point.
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