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By Brenda Erdahl
Apr 15, 2008
The fate of the 1922 portion of the Annandale Middle School is up for
debate again, three years after it was first recommended that the school
district tear it down. On Monday night, April 28, a
task force assigned the
job of creating a plan to maintain quality facilities in the
district will present a proposal to the school board that includes a
long-term goal of abandoning the middle school site starting with
demolition of the 1922 building. Three years ago, few voiced opposition
to the idea. That won't be the case this time around. A group of people
who want to keep the 1922 building a viable part of the public education
system and the community have banded together and will make their
feelings known at the meeting. "I've spoken to hundreds of people
interested in saving the 1922 building," said Jill Bishop, an outspoken
opponent of demolishing the historical school. "We have petitions at
businesses. The coffee shop is going on
its third page of names." Bishop and others hope to remind board
members that you can get to the same goal by taking different paths, and
that the goal for both parties is the same, an excellent place to learn
and teach. The question is which path will the six school board members
choose to take the school district down. Proponents of saving the 1922
building want to renovate the space to make it a place where kids can
concentrate on learning and teachers can concentrate on teaching.
"Teachers love teaching there because of the natural light, the tall
ceilings and the space," said Laura Hood Beckman, the only member of the
task force who voted against demolishing the school. "But with
that comes heating and cooling issues, leaky windows and roofs. Teachers
and students shouldn't have to put up with that." Certain updates that
both groups can agree upon include new windows, tuck pointing, a new
roof, a new heating, cooling and air exchange system, the addition of an
elevator and a lift into the lower gym. If it were to be renovated, the
task force would also recommend putting a commons area and
cafeteria in the old building, Supt. Steve Niklaus said. The current
cafeteria is too small and lacks windows, up-to-date equipment and
appropriate airflow. All in all it would cost an additional $1.2 to $2
million to renovate the old building over building an entirely new
school, Niklaus said. To make the building more energy efficient, the
superintendent would recommend the ceilings be lowered, which means
there would be no room for the larger windows Beckman said the teachers
so enjoy. The rooms are also too big for current class sizes and not an
efficient use of space in his opinion. Prime location But architectural
design is only one of the benefits Beckman and Bishop see. The 1922
building is in a prime location, close to downtown and all the amenities
it has to offer including proximity to businesses, area churches, Bendix
Elementary, the high school and the Annandale Care Center, places
students often walk to. "It's safer than being way out on some acreage
somewhere," said Rose Mary Nelson, another proponent of saving the 1922
building. The task force
on the other hand sees the school's location as one of
its disadvantages. Not only is it landlocked, it is on a site
that is too small, according to state standards. What that means is that
the district won't have the option of adding on to the school if more
space is needed in the future. "The state has made it pretty clear to us
that they would not approve any additions unless we tore something else
down," Niklaus said. The general feeling in the school district for many
years has been not to invest a large amount of money in the 1922
building, outside of keeping it functional, because
its fate has always been unknown, Niklaus said. Three years ago
when an earlier task force
first recommended the demolition of the building it received no
indication that the community cared about the building. Bishop remembers
clearly when Jeff Lundquist, a member of the 2005
task force and the most recent one, told her that one day over
coffee at In Hot Water. It's what inspired her to publish her first
letter in the Advocate opposing demolition of the 85-year-old school and
encouraging others to speak out. There have now been two meetings at the
Snooty Fox Gallery for those protesting the
task force's recommendation. Close to 35 people attended the most
recent meeting on Wednesday, April 9, including several members of the
task force and Niklaus. "We concluded that you can get to the
same conclusion by taking different paths, which is excellent learning
space and teaching space," Beckman said. The compromise Members of the
task force voted 18 to 1 against renovating the 1922 building
because they didn't want
to get the school district locked into a long-term commitment at a site
they saw as inefficient to their future needs. But there's an amendment
in the task force's
proposal if enough of the community shows an interest in keeping the
1922 building alive, Niklaus said. Within the next year or two the
district expects to go to the voters for a bond issue for approximately
$25 million based on information gathered by the
task force. The money would be put toward remodeling Bendix
Elementary's open-air classroom design, adding a sports complex and
making improvements to AMS, which would include demolishing the 1922
building. If the voters approve a bond issue, the money the district
would have used to tear down the old school - $100,000 to $150,000 -
would be given to the group of community members to fix up the old
school as they deem necessary. The district would essentially hand over
the building for the group to do with as they please as long as it is
compatible with the rest of the school, Niklaus said. That would mean
the group would have to get approval from the school board before making
any renovations. Anything would be considered including turning the
building into apartments, a community center, an art gallery or a
private business. Those are just a few ideas Niklaus has heard. In
exchange, the district would no longer pay the utilities, but would hand
that cost over to the group of community members as well. The
task force's recommendation is to build an addition on to Bendix
for the fifth grade. That would make the remainder of the middle school
much roomier. It would also alleviate congestion in the cafeteria, which
would remain where it is. Eventually the district would move toward
building a new middle school on a different site. On April 28, school
board members will have their first official look at the
task force's recommendation, but they are not likely to act on it
until the May meeting, Niklaus said. Now is the time to approach the
voters for money for major improvements to the schools because in 2009
the mortgage on the high school will be paid off, he said.
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