BY PEPPER FISHER
Port Angeles – The City of Port Angeles will not be purchasing the old Lincoln School building and converting it into multi-family housing.
That was the decision made Monday night by the Board of Directors of the North Olympic History Center (NOHC).
As we reported last week, the City made a final offer to buy the entire property from the NOHC for just under $600,000 cash and a property on West 10th Street for a total value of $788,000. But Executive Director David Brownell says selling the property would mean losing the gymnasium building, which they spent a fortune on, and would cost millions to replace.
“It is chock-full of, essentially, the cultural heritage of this community. All of that stuff is kept in the school gymnasium, which we’ve invested a great deal of money into. Not just security and climate control, we also have customized storage systems in our archives that allow us to maximize every square inch of storage space. And so, what we have invested in this building, you know, it’s so cost prohibitive to start from scratch and build anew, would be the multimillion-dollar project that we just can’t take on.”
Brownell described their situation as like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can’t lose the Curatorial Building. They can’t keep or convert the 110-year-old school building themselves because it’s in a dangerous condition, and they can’t afford to tear it down. So what’s the solution?
“So, the plan is to…essentially, we have a 2-acre campus. And if you were to draw a dividing line right in the middle of that two acres, that dividing line is just on the north side of the Lincoln School building. So, what we would like to do is split our campus into two parcels and sell that northern acre, which is currently the grass lawn between the Lincoln School and 8th Street, and use the proceeds from the sale of that northern acre to remove the Lincoln School building. Because we don’t have the resources to even remove the Lincoln School building, much less construct a new Curatorial Building.”
Brownell says they hope they find a commercial buyer that would construct a mixed-use property with retail on the street level and perhaps housing above it.
“That said, we’re really hoping to actually see housing. You know, we’re not against housing in any way shape or form. We’re just not in a position where we can sell our entire campus, because we can’t afford to move.”
The City, as you might guess, is disappointed in the NOHC’s decision. We’ll bring you the official reaction to the news and an interview with City Manager Nathan West tomorrow.