Board OKs contract to build new Marysville Pilchuck cafeteria

Published 12:36 pm Tuesday, March 29, 2016

MARYSVILLE — Students at Marysville Pilchuck High School are one step closer to having a new cafeteria to replace the dining area that was abandoned after the mass shootings in 2014.

The Marysville School Board on Monday approved an $8.24 million bid to build the new cafeteria. Tiger Construction, which has worked on several community college and school district projects in Whatcom and Skagit counties, was awarded the contract.

Construction could begin in April.

Plans call for a 16,000-square-foot, steel-framed building with a high ceiling and many windows to take advantage of natural light. It will be built near the gym.

The goal is to make it as energy-efficient and as tech-friendly as possible.

The school district plans to chip in about $650,000 toward the cafeteria project, money that comes from a capital improvement budget and interest earned from it. The remainder is state money, including $5 million set aside by the Legislature last year in response to the shootings.

“This is really a huge opportunity we would not have had without the Legislature coming through,” said school district spokeswoman Emily Wicks.

An online survey of nearly 2,000 students, parents and the community made it clear that they didn’t want to use the former cafeteria ever again following the tragedy that claimed five student lives, including the shooter, in October 2014.

The new building will include the cafe, an ASB office, kitchen, student store and a classroom that can double as a meeting area.

For now, students are eating in the small cafeteria that’s just north of the gym, as well as the Tomahawks Activity Center, better known as the TAC. Some students also eat in classrooms as many teachers have opened their doors during the lunch hour.

Kirkland-based architectural firm Hutteball &Oremus designed the new building.

The cafeteria and a few other structures, including the gym, pool, auditorium and stadium, would fit into the footprint for a future new Marysville Pilchuck High School, which now has an enrollment of 1,150 students. The school was built in 1970.

Voters will decide on a $230 million bond measure that includes upgrading and replacing much of Marysville Pilchuck on the April 26 special election ballot.

If it’s approved, the measure also would pay for replacement of three schools, relocation of Totem Middle School and construction of a fifth middle school in the north end of the district.

The bond measure will require 60 percent approval to pass. It would raise the property tax by $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, or $262.50 for an average $210,000 house in Marysville.

The three schools identified for replacement are Liberty Elementary, Cascade Elementary and Marysville Middle School, which were built in 1951, 1955 and 1960, respectively.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.