Support Expressed For Renovating Lc Building

After nine months of public meetings, Lewis and Clark students, parents and alumni are nearly unanimous in their desire to see the school renovated rather than relocated.

However, some 30 percent of current LC faculty said they would prefer that the school be relocated.

Bob Lobdell, a business teacher at LC, said his colleagues were concerned that the school district might try to cut corners when it came time to renovate the building. “If they’re going to renovate the building, it has to be state of the art,” said Lobdell, who attended LC as a student in the 1960s.

The 85-year-old school building would get its much-needed renovation if Spokane voters approve a $67 million facilities improvement bond now being considered by the school board for a vote in spring 1998.

The price tag for renovating Lewis and Clark would be about $43 million. However, homeowners would pay only $18 million of that amount.

Superintendent Gary Livingston said that because of the poor condition of the school’s plumbing, electrical, mechanical and heating systems, he is “99 percent sure” that the state will contribute $15 million to the project.

The remaining $9 million needed to complete the project is already in the district’s capital projects fund, Livingston said.

Steve McNutt, a Spokane architect, and Bill Etter, a Spokane attorney, donated hundreds of hours gathering public comment on the fate of LC.

The most promising alternative to renovation - building a new high school at Hart Field near 37th and Grand Boulevard - was opposed by residents of that neighborhood.

“They told us they didn’t want us,” McNutt said. Neighbors told him they didn’t want the activities or human traffic associated with a high school near their homes.

Other alternatives, such as relocating LC along Latah Creek or possibly even at Playfair, if that space became available, were rejected because those locations are too far removed from the students LC serves, McNutt said.

McNutt unveiled a plan that would remove the existing fieldhouse at LC to make room for a new plaza.

The proposal calls for the school district to purchase two city blocks, one directly east of LC and a second southeast of the school. The additional space would accommodate a practice gym, an events gym and two playfields.

McNutt stressed that this proposal isn’t final or official.

School district officials said they haven’t hired any designers or architects at this point.

McNutt said renovating the school would probably result in three semesters of disruption for students. If a bond is approved in spring 1998, renovation of the school would begin in July 1999.

During the renovation, the building could be worked on in sections, allowing 500 to 600 students to remain in the building, McNutt said.

Freshmen would be moved to a different location the first year of reconstruction.

Livingston said freshman could take classes at Bryant Center, a former elementary school.

“We could even rent an Ernst,” quipped Livingston, referring to the empty buildings of the closed hardware chain.

Amy Howell, 18, an LC senior, supports keeping the school where it is. “It will help keep the downtown area alive,” she said.

Howell said during her nearly four years at LC, she’s seen and heard many repairs.

“My freshman year they were doing some construction. It made a lot of noise.

“I think the renovation would be well worth the inconvenience,” Howell said.

“I don’t think I’ve talked to anybody who has wanted relocation over renovation,” she said.

, DataTimes