I’m an architect that has lived in Quilcene for the past 20 years. I’ve served on the Quilcene School District’s Facilities Committee for much of that time. 

The Quilcene School District has called for a special election April 26 asking for the approval of a bond to finance the total replacement of its heavily-deteriorated elementary school building, the construction of a workshop building so students can learn about trades and careers and the rehabilitation of the school’s athletic fields and fitness room. All of these improvements can be financed without increasing the current school tax rate.

The basic elementary school building was built in 1946 and added onto in 1948. It is a wood-frame structure with brick veneer with heavily-weathered and energy-wasting single pane steel windows and a leaky, low-slope membrane-clad roof. 

All of this building’s systems (including failing mechanical, electrical, structural, and weather protection systems) generally should be replaced or modernized after 30 years of service. 

The elementary school’s systems have been in place for more than 75 years. During that time, several systems (especially the mechanical and electrical systems and roof) have been patched and repaired but the cumulative impact has now resulted in a building that is costly to maintain and is failing basic school building design standards for function, comfort, flexibility, and operating cost. 

In 2019, the state conducted a seismic survey of the entire Quilcene school campus. The high school and middle school buildings qualified for grants to improve their seismic structural systems as the inherent value warranted saving the structures. The survey committee determined that the elementary building was cost-prohibitive to upgrade as it would cost more to bring it up to code than to totally replace it.  

My Seattle architecture and planning firm, where I was a partner, specializes in governmental projects, many of which involved condition surveys of existing municipal, state, and federal buildings and campuses. A planning guideline for building renovation vs. total replacement with all-new construction is when the cost of renovation exceeds 75 percent of the cost of new construction, consider total replacement. The Quilcene Elementary School meets this standard and should be completely replaced with new construction.     

The bond will also provide funding for construction of a shop class/maker space. This workshop function will provide career and technical education opportunities for students from middle through high school and will consist of a classroom and a hands-on learning shop space. The bond will also address improvements to the indoor fitness space and upgrades to the athletic fields to bring them up to league standards.

Eric Anderson
QUILCENE