District Plans Repairs At Hutton Two Classrooms Declared Unsafe After Water Leaks Damage Walls

Two classrooms at historic Hutton Elementary have been labeled unsafe, meaning the school’s sixth-graders will be placed in different rooms this fall while repairs are made.

Water infiltration has crumbled the south exterior walls of two classrooms, causing window frames to separate from wall supports and the exterior stucco surface to crack.

The concrete coping above the parapets has deteriorated, allowing the water in.

“The surface that was designed to keep water out is now porous,” said John Mannix, director of plant and facilities for School District 81.

He wrote in a memo to the district that the possibility of falling plaster or flying shards of glass from blocks above the windows created an immediate safety concern.

The rooms are part of a wing added in the late 1940s. The original school was built in 1920.

Mannix said the district will consider repairing the coping around the entire wings.

“We don’t want to have this happen at other points around the school,” he said.

Designing the project and accepting a bid could take a month. Construction would start soon after and take one to two months, he said.

The entire project could cost up to $100,000.

Students will be housed in spaces previously used by parent volunteers and an art specialist, said Principal Valorie Chadwick.

Hutton is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Rockwood Historic District. The neighborhood was named to the register in 1996.

Architects are working with Spokane’s Office of Historic Preservation to make sure any work at Hutton maintains the school’s place as a part of that historic district.

”(The district) is very concerned about it,” said preservation officer Teresa Brum. “I was glad to hear that.”