Everett School District plans new offices
Published 9:42 pm Tuesday, April 1, 2008
EVERETT — With three offices spread over two miles, the Everett School District is considering building a $28 million central administration headquarters.
The building would be on district-owned land at the south end of Everett Memorial Stadium on Broadway Avenue near 41st Street SE. It could open as early as 2010.
Superintendent Carol Whitehead said the project can be financed without using voter-approved bond or levy dollars. A $198.9 million bond measure passed in 2006 did not include building a new district headquarters.
The money will come from interest on investments, lease revenues, state matching funds and possibly the sale of property.
“We will honor the promises made to voters in 2006 by completing all of the school projects we outlined in that bond,” Whitehead said.
The district has begun looking for an architect. The height of the building will be determined during the design. It could be three to four stories tall, said Mike Gunn, the district’s facilities and planning director.
The timing is good to make the decision, he said.
One of the three locations of district offices is View Ridge Elementary School, which is scheduled for major construction improvements in 2011. Other district offices are the 42-year-old Colby Educational Service Center, 4730 Colby Ave., and the 95-year-old Longfellow Building, 3715 Oakes Ave.
To modernize all three buildings would cost about $22 million, according to district estimates.
The district has 132 employees at its three administrative buildings. They are housed over about 55,000 square feet.
The new building would likely have about the same square footage as exists in the three buildings, but the space could be used more efficiently, Gunn said. For instance, space could be saved by sharing conference rooms, parking, restrooms and storage areas.
No decision has been made on what the district would do with the service center on Colby Avenue or the Longfellow Building, Gunn said.
Over the years, the district outgrew its existing service center, which was built in 1964.
Staff moved to the Longfellow Building in 1971 after an elementary school on the property closed. In 1982, special services employees moved to the View Ridge campus.
“We have looked at the option of staying where we are and merely modernizing the existing buildings, but with all the long-term benefits we would gain by having a centralized facility, we felt this (project) was the best option,” Gunn said.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
