[Vision2020] New High School

Sat Feb 19 11:08:07 PST 2005

Janice et al.

As a point of clarification, please know that I did not speculate on
whether a variance, easement, or other special consideration would be
approved in this situation. I suspect that you misunderstood something I
said at the meeting you describe. I appreciate the healthy dialogue on
this important topic that will affect the whole of our community for
generations to come. Its implications are broader than any dollar amount
on a proposed bond issue.

Nancy Chaney

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Janice Willard
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 2:07 PM
To: Pat Kraut; cburke at wsunix.wsu.edu
Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] New High School

Hi Charles, Pat and other Visionaries
I think that an important thing for people to know is that we have never
gotten accurate numbers for what it would cost to correct some of the
current problems at the current high school.  We have been told that it
would cost nearly as much to fix the current school as to build a new
one, but that actually isn't accurate.  It is not that the answer given
was wrong, but rather no one ever asked the right question.  

What I found out at the last meeting is that the architects, in all of
the cost estimates they were asked to do, never were asked to make the
current high school usable.  They were asked to give the estimates on
what it would cost to make it equivalent to a *brand new,*
state-of-the-art school.  An example that came out of that discussion
was that there was an estimate of 1.5 million dollars to re-do the
auditorium.  The architects were asked, why so much?  The answer they
gave was that they were told to make it state of the art.  So to do
that, they would have to tear out all the seating and replace it with
new, rebuild the stage and replace both the sound and lighting with
state of the art systems.  That's where that number came from.

Now I don't know about you, but the last time that I was in that
auditorium, it seemed pretty functional and the seats weren't all that
bad.  Certainly it is usable pretty much as is with some minor
improvements--certainly not gutting the entire thing and starting over.

The numbers we given are for the *Extreme Makeover* version: gutting the
building to the exterior walls. Certainly there are things needing
replacing and repairing, but what the architects said was that they had
never been asked to calculate the numbers for a functional upgrade.  One
thing for sure, if they did this, the cost will come in a lot less than
they are giving now for renovations to the current high school.  The
current costs are as if someone remodeled their house and tore out
everything down to the exterior walls just to fix a leaky toilet.

The parking issue bears closer inspection as well.  I have heard it said
they can't fix any of the things that need fixing at the high school,
like the chemistry labs or locker rooms, because if they did so, they
would lose the easement that they have and would then have to provide a
city block's worth of off street parking.  But I believe that this is
also incorrect.  City Councilwoman Nancy Channing attended one of the
meeting that I was at and said that repairs and renovations would likely
be allowed.  And the parking issues can be handled in a number of ways.
So this is another huge cost given to continuing the use of current high
school that also may not be true.

JW   
----- Original Message ----- 
From: cburke at wsunix.wsu.edu 
To: Pat Kraut <mailto:pkraut at moscow.com>  
Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com 
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 11:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] New High School

That may be so, but the shell game still continues. We are having a hard
enough time filling and paying for the 1912 building. Who is going to
pay for the old school renovation into county offices? Building a new
high school costs more than the cost of the new school's construction.
There are the costs associated with building infrastructure associated
with the new school, as mentioned in earlier posts, in addition to the
renovation costs to the existing school. All of these costs will be
passed to the Latah County tax payer. I feel that maintaining and
building upon the existing sites is a more prudent financial approach to
providing educational facilities than expanding into farmland.

Charles Burke

I believe the county government offices covet much of the old high
school.
PK
----- Original Message -----
From: cburke at wsunix.wsu.edu
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 8:48 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] New High School

Now that the facilities committee has recommended that the upcoming
school bond issue cover the construction of a new high school, what is
to become of the old high school? It seems to me that if the current
high school is inadequate due to need of repair, then it will require
renovation irregardless, unless it is to be demolished. I wonder where
the renovation money will come from? I was hoping that we could renovate
the old high school and thereby get more bang for our money...a
renovated building and a well functioning school. To accommodate a
revised configuration (4 year vs 3 year high school), I had hoped that a
conversion of the high school to a junior high and the junior high to a
high school would get some traction, but apparently that hasn't
happened. I'd like to hear others comment on this subject.

Charles Burke

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