Forum on Rogers High School remodel sees disappointing turnout

Lyle Olmstead expected a crowd at Rogers High School’s first open house forum. He assumed the parents of future students would flock to see early images of what a $54.8 million remodeled Rogers may look like.

Instead, aside from the usual school officials, Olmstead found the past – alumni like himself who wanted to reminisce about Rogers.

“I guess I was shocked, absolutely shocked,” said Olmstead, a 1950 Rogers graduate. “To me it showed a lack of interest (from the community) maybe.”

He arrived 30 minutes early last Wednesday and found maybe 25 people, a mix of district officials, workers from the construction company, a teacher, Rogers’ new principal and a group of mainly retired folks involved with the school alumni and foundation groups.

Olmstead and many of the Rogers alumni who showed up for last week’s event said they hoped the remodel of their school would revitalize the neighborhood. It’s no secret the community around Rogers has struggled with high rates of poverty.

It’s a mystery to Olmstead why so few turned out.

The Spokane Public Schools communications office delegated the advertisement of the event to a worker in support services, said Terren Roloff, director of communications for the district.

“My office was involved, but I couldn’t take it on,” Roloff said.

A media release was disseminated with the help of one of her staff. The alumni associations sent out some letters of invite to community members like Olmstead. Rogers sent home a notice to parents. Roloff said the Rogers forum was mentioned on a Spokane Public Schools taped television show called “School Talk,” which aired on Comcast Cable Channel 18 and is on the district Web site. She added that all media releases are found there too, at www.spokane-schools.org.

Mike McGuire, who heads up capital projects for the district, said “We were really hoping for a lot of folks to come in.”

Some neighbors to the school showed up to ask how long traffic would be disrupted. One written comment was submitted asking for more parking at the school.

“I know the word got out. I don’t really have an answer for why there weren’t more people there,” McGuire said. “I don’t know how else we would have gotten the word out, to be honest.”

During his time at Rogers, Olmstead said people had pride in their school. That’s why he wanted to come and give his two cents on why the historic features of the building should be saved. He also came because he was personally invited by mail.

He assumes the invite came because in 2000 he was a key volunteer who helped build an outdoor courtyard for students. He had been invited to serve on a design committee for the project, which he declined because he thought there were more qualified people. This project deserves the best, he said.

There was a time when the railroad kept dozens of well-paying jobs in the Hillyard neighborhood. Once the railroad station pulled out, the jobs went and so did some neighborhood stability, he said.

“It’s a poor part of town,” Olmstead said. “Rogers used to be highly respected in sports and everything. Those things have deteriorated.”

Mark Anderson, associate superintendent of school support services, said there will be about four more attempts to gather public input. It’s likely they’ll target the middle schools that will eventually send their students to Rogers, Anderson said.

At this point, much input is being received by weekly meetings with Rogers’ teachers, Anderson said. The input is being used to help architects further develop the conceptual plans.

By the fall, schematic plans will be drawn up and be presented for more public comment.

At this stage, the rough plans feature a larger open space in the school – sort of a gathering place atrium. Further details will be hashed out in the next several months.

The Spokane Public Schools board voted in April to increase the original $42 million Rogers redesign budget to $54.8 million to meet the unexpected rise in construction costs.

Architects from Northwest Architecture Company and the contractor from Garco Construction will answer questions, along with school officials. The renovation was funded by the $165 million Capital Projects Bond passed in March 2003. Construction should begin December 2006 and be finished by the summer of 2008.

John Dixon, a 1955 graduate of Rogers, moved back to Spokane recently after working around the country managing large hotels. He’s on the construction committee and attended the design forum last week. He’s hoping the new school brings some good attention to the school.

“Rogers kids have never had a lot, but the school has always taken what’s come through the door and made the most of it,” Dixon said. “When I was a kid growing up, Rogers was a sanctuary. When you got to Rogers you had safety, security, education, learning, activities. You could develop leadership skills.”

Now he’s part of the effort to make the new Rogers the best it can be.