A mission upheld

The sigh of relief was almost audible on the historic grounds of the former Spokane Lutheran School, now part of Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute.

The two educational institutions planted a flowering cherry tree Friday morning to celebrate the Lutheran school’s sale of 14.5 acres of land to Mukogawa, which will preserve the historic brick buildings and grassy open lawns.

One proposal for the land called for a several-hundred-unit apartment complex, a project that died due to lack of sewer capacity, but nonetheless spurred Mukogawa officials to take action when the land became available.

Mukogawa paid $1.62 million for the land and several buildings which sit upon it, many of which are historic. The land runs from Mukogawa’s campus to Government Way.

“We’d like to preserve this beautiful learning environment,” said Hiroshi Takaoka, Mukogawa’s executive vice president. He said the school buildings likely will be leased to Spokane Junior Academy for the coming school year, but that long-term plans had not been made. An apartment building, he said, would have “destroyed an entire scene of this campus.”

That sentiment was echoed by other people who live on the campus.

“We are so glad the grass will be preserved,” said Naoko White, who lives across the street from the sprawling lawn with her husband and young children. Her husband teaches at Mukogawa, where Japanese students study overseas for a semester. At the thought of the apartment complex, she said, “We were all kind of, ‘Oh no.’ “

The day was a bittersweet one for Sheri Meyer, a board member of the Lutheran School, where her children attended school. She especially treasured the way the school’s staff embraced her son, a highly functioning autistic child. Though she’s sad for the loss of the school, she’s glad to see the land remain with an educational institution, she said.

“You walk around and you smell the pine trees,” Meyer said, as her son gave her a dandelion bouquet. “The kids had the space to really run.”

The Lutheran School will take the money for the land and use it to rebuild its educational ministry, said Brian Albrecht, board chairman for the Spokane Lutheran School Association. Albrecht is also the weather forecaster for KHQ.

The Spokane Lutheran School, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2002, initially opened on the site in 1961. The school still offers kindergarten and first grade at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, said Joe Tensmeyer, the school’s principal and administrator.

“We had a lot of debt and declining school enrollment over a period of time,” Tensmeyer said. “I think we’re very satisfied that an educational facility is going to keep the intention of the property.”