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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

New Browne Elementary On District’s Wish List

The Spokane School District is considering demolishing one of it’s oldest buildings, Browne Elementary, and constructing a $4.5 million replacement.

The proposal is part of a long wish list unveiled by the school board last week. The board is considering asking voters to approve a $67 million for new buildings and massive computer improvements.

Specifics of a proposed replacement at Browne are unclear. The district plans to hire an architect to draw several options, including building a new school on the site next to the current Browne, according to Assistant Superintendent Ned Hammond.

A meeting is scheduled at Browne on Monday.

The 1914 building is so dilapidated that a wheelbarrow full of tar fell though the roof last summer. The roofer pushing the tar was not injured and no one was in the classroom at the time.

“Browne is in bad shape,” said Superintendent Gary Livingston.

The poor condition precludes a remodel, said Hammond, head of planning for the district. “It would cost so much to shore it up and bring it up to code,” said Hammond.

The school is undersized and poorly equipped for the 21st century, built to be a small neighborhood school in an era before cars were commonplace. Eight of the 18 classrooms are portables, and the school is growing.

Poorly insulated walls retain heat. There are few electrical outlets, and rewiring classrooms for computers has been difficult.

“I’m in the health room and there’s paint peeling off the wall under the sink because there’s some leakage,” said Principal Rodger Lake, talking on the telephone.

But the school on Driscoll Blvd. is also a neighborhood landmark, an imposing facade with intricate stonework.

In addition to being a neighborhood school, many students attended Browne while other northwest Spokane schools were being built, making it a educational train station for many students in the 1950’s.

“I’m always taken by the attractiveness of the building at a distance,” said Lake, whose brother when to Browne. “But you get up close, inside, and it’s atrocious.”

The proposed bond issue would pay for part of a $33 million remodeling of Lewis and Clark High School, and $24.6 million in technology improvements through out the district.

Cost of the bond issue would be about $46 for the owner of a $100,000 home.

Several North Side projects are being considered:

Tearing down and replacing Rogers High’s practice gymnasium and and adding six classrooms. Locker rooms would be improved, and the auditorium would be restructured to open room for administrative and counseling offices. Cost is estimated at $5.95 million.

A $3.15 million expansion of North Central High, with additional classrooms, girls’ locker rooms and physical education space. “The problem at North Central is we’ve got a school built for 1,250 kids, and since we’ve opened we’ve had 1,500,” said Hammond.

Installation of air conditioning at Garry Middle School and expansion of the gymnasium, costing about $2.5 million.

Improvements to the Shadle Park auditorium, the library at Madison elementary and classrooms at Arlington, Audubon, Bemiss, Cooper, Finch, Garfield, Holmes, Longfellow, Regal, Whitman, Willard and Woodridge elementaries.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: MEETING SCHEDULED The Spokane School District is taking public comments on a proposal to replace Browne Elementary, 5134 N. Driscoll Blvd. The meeting is at 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 3, at the school. Call 353-4490 for more information.

This sidebar appeared with the story: MEETING SCHEDULED The Spokane School District is taking public comments on a proposal to replace Browne Elementary, 5134 N. Driscoll Blvd. The meeting is at 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 3, at the school. Call 353-4490 for more information.