In 2012, we voters approved a capital projects levy for the Port Townsend School District, in which $500,000 was explicitly earmarked for the removal of that dangerous eyesore, the Lincoln Building.
For eight years, the school board has continued to defy the will of the voters and break that promise by ignoring what every one of the numerous studies of the past has shown, namely that there is no way that the Lincoln Building can be reused for any purpose because of its numerous defects. The seismic retrofits alone ($7+ million) make any project unfeasible.
On March 19, the board is to be asked to approve a new plan for the high school that includes yet another idea for reuse of the Lincoln Building, this time as a 700-seat theater.
Wrong! The board must stop considering these unachievable pipe dreams, stop wasting money, and keep the promise made to the voters to remove the Lincoln Building, once and for all.
Tom Thiersch
Jefferson County
