Board assesses inventory,opts to surplus several sites

Tacoma School Board heard an update on the district’s property assets Dec. 10, and opted to surplus four of the 10 discussed sites.

Necessity and cost played a role in much of the board’s decisions, as they directed staff to begin the process of letting go of the unneeded properties.

Camp Joshua Taylor, the 15 acre site at Cirque and Alameda, Willard Elementary school, the an old Edison elementary parking lot site will all be up for grabs.

The twenty acres in Key Peninsula that was once a popular fifth and sixth-grade camp area more than two decades ago, Camp Joshua Taylor has since been considered a safety issue, and is too far away from the district to be efficient for regular use.

“Twenty years ago, every fifth and sixth grade student would go (to Camp Joshua Taylor) every year. That program was abandoned and the (buildings) were abandoned,” said Chief Operations Officer Sam Bell, noting more viable camp options have sprung up for Tacoma students since then, adding to the decrease in use at the Key Peninsula site.

The 15 undeveloped acres at Cirque and Alameda was once thought to be a possible site for a new elementary school, but is now seen as “not very functional as a school site” according to Bell, and could possibly be handed off to the city of University Place.

“We have no future need for Cirque and Alameda,” said Superintendent Art Jarvis as he made his surplus recommendations to the board.

The district is maintaining the majority of the Blueberry Park asset, a property shared with Metro Parks Tacoma in South Tacoma, and the 25 undeveloped acres behind Mount Tahoma High School, which is viewed as a valuable buffer between the school and nearby residential neighborhood.

Jarvis recommended the district keep the currently unused Gault Middle School for transitional purposes, and assess the best possible scenario for the old Gray Middle School, which could mean demolition.

Two sites, 8.5 undeveloped acres at South 52nd and Mullen Street and vacant land adjacent to the new Gray Middle School both have permanent uses and owners in the pipeline.

The 52nd and Mullen site is being purchased with funds from Conservation Futures and that deal is slated to close this week. The vacant land at the new Gray is currently planned for a trade with Metro Parks for use as a location for a community center.

Citing a poor real estate market, Jarvis noted it might take a while to sell any of the remaining surplus sites. Willard, and Cirque and Alameda, have so far received some interest from buyers.  

Bell noted that the City of Tacoma is interested in the 25,000-square-foot Willard building because of its location and commercial possibilities. Tacoma’s independent Waldorf School is also interested in the building for educational purposes.

Because of the down-time possible before a permanent buyer is found for the sites, the district is interested in leasing Willard and Gault Middle School in the meantime in order to help cover the costs of maintaining the vacant buildings.

Upwards of $76,000 for Gault and $85,000 for the old Gray is required annually to keep the schools in their vacant conditions. A much smaller school, Willard costs the district about $20,000 a year while vacant and Camp Joshua Taylor about $8,500. Each of the school sites will require roof replacements reaching costs of about $300,000 in the future, according to Bell.

Gault and Gray Middle Schools were both initially slated for swing schools during construction periods of proposed projects included in the district’s 2009 capital bond. Because that bond did not pass, two vacant school buildings are now unnecessary.

“Both were thought of as transitional schools until about a month ago,” Jarvis said, adding that the district should have one building available as an option for a swing school, but it still may be another three to five years before the site is needed. Jarvis recommended retaining Gault over the old Gray because it is in better condition. The district hopes to be able to lease out the 110,00-square-feet for the duration of time before Gault is needed as a swing school, but recognizes that may be a hard sell for tenants.

“We may be able to parcel the building (to multiple occupants),” he noted.

Jarvis went on to say the block of the old Gray middle school should be retained as property, but that the building itself (not including the unattached shop and gym building which is currently in use by Edison Elementary) should be removed.

“I don’t believe we’re going to find a viable tenant for that site.”

The district plans to reach out to the Edison neighborhood community before any final decisions for the old Gray site are made.

Commenting rules