First And Foremost A School, Not An Icon

What did Spokane voters expect when they agreed to remodel historic Lewis & Clark High School, a museum or a modern education facility?

Without a doubt, they wanted a school, updated for a new century of service. They also wanted to save the lovely building, focal point for a century of heritage and sentiment.

These objectives have collided, in a controversy over two project details that the school board must settle by the end of next month:

Should most of the building’s open staircases be replaced with enclosed stairwells, as modern fire safety codes recommend?

Should the district remodel or replace the annex, an older structure east of the architecturally elegant main building?

Historic preservationists, who love the school’s physical characteristics, answer one way. Many of L-C’s faculty, who love not only the building but its mission, answer another way.

We side with the educators. The community’s best interests require the school board to do the same.

Architect Steve McNutt has spent months consulting with L-C’s faculty about the many improvements needed for better educational function. He has drafted and redrafted numerous design options. It’s a juggling act of complexities not evident from the sidelines, where critics seem long on sentiment but short on practicalities.

At public hearings called to air the controversy, some citizens accused the district of a railroad job and questioned McNutt’s commitment to the preservationist cause. The cynicism is undeserved. McNutt spearheaded the campaign to save the old building. District officials heeded that campaign, showing openness once again when they encountered this summer’s design obstacles and invited public comment.

On one point, the weight of public comment was eloquent and convincing: The annex is an ugly old hulk, originally built to house administrators, not classrooms. Its design flaws have been a headache for years and stand in the way of an efficient interior as well as an attractively landscaped campus. Replacing it with an architecturally compatible addition would save money, increase the number of classrooms and beautify the grounds.

Regarding the open staircases, the district has a tougher choice to make. In all likelihood it can compromise by keeping some of them open. We hope so. The safety of students, however, has to take precedence. If the district stretches fire codes too far, it risks human, legal and financial disaster.

Renovations simply have to compromise, blending the best of the old with the best of the new.