ARLINGTON — The historic Trafton School is being sold for $450,000 to a man who hopes to eventually turn it into housing for people recovering from addiction to drugs and alcohol, public records show.
The Arlington School Board signed a purchase and sale agreement June 1. There is a 90-day window, which would expire at the end of August, to conduct a review of the property to determine if it is suitable for the proposed use. After that, there’s a 45-day period to close the sale.
The property is being purchased by Kris Wright, who grew up in Darrington and now lives on Camano Island. He runs a trucking company in Arlington with more than 100 employees.
“My vision for the property is a stepping stone life skill learning center for recovering addicts coming out of treatment or who must have been clean for a minimum of 30 days,” he wrote in a Nov. 24 letter of interest to the school district.
The letter, purchase agreement and other documents related to the sale were obtained recently by The Daily Herald under state public records laws.
Wright plans to maintain the building with rent money from people living there. He’s budgeted $150,000 for work on the property, which he agreed to purchase “as-is, where-is … with all faults and defects,” according to the sale agreement.
Any upgrades would be mindful of the preservation of the historic schoolhouse, he wrote.
School board members prioritized preserving the Trafton School when they were making decisions about the sale, district spokeswoman Andrea Conley previously said. The schoolhouse was built in 1888 and rebuilt in 1912 after a fire. It was the oldest continuously operating schoolhouse in Washington when it closed in 2010.
The district received two offers for the property, which includes the schoolhouse at 12616 Jim Creek Road and the Trafton residential house at 12528 Jim Creek Road. The other offer was from a naturopathic physician and midwife and her husband. They wanted to renovate the house and restore the Trafton School to make one of the buildings into a private medical practice. They offered $75,000 for the property, citing anticipated repair costs.
The type of recovery housing that Wright hopes to locate at the Trafton property would operate through an international program called Oxford House. Recovering addicts learn housekeeping, money management, how to live on their own and how to find a job while living in a house where they govern themselves. The houses have strict rules and people are booted out if they use alcohol or drugs. There would be required drug testing and random house and grounds inspections, Wright wrote.
Wright has received some negative reactions, he said Thursday.
“People are going to question it and I don’t blame them,” he said. “It’s a perfect place for the way that it’s set up for what I want to do. But it’s not about me. It’s about helping people.”
In order to be chartered as an Oxford House, the Trafton property would need to go through a review process by the nonprofit’s local division, said Rick Mogel, Washington outreach services representative for Oxford House. The organization has not yet been contacted by anyone about opening an Oxford House at the Trafton property.
“We have heard multiple times over the years about the need in that area but we don’t have any Oxford Houses in Arlington, Marysville or anywhere in that area,” he said. “An Oxford House can’t open without permission.”
Wright is in the middle of the review period allowed in the purchase agreement and “it’s all kind of in flux” right now, he said.
The nearest Oxford Houses are in Mount Vernon and Everett. There are 255 across Washington, more than in any other state, Mogel said.
Before a new house is approved, representatives with the nonprofit review the house and services in the area. There need to be enough bedrooms, bathrooms, job opportunities, grocery stores and public transportation. They also look for recovery services such as Alcoholics Anonymous or other support groups.
“(Arlington) would be a brand new area, so we would really have to do our homework,” Mogel said.
There’s no time limit to how long someone can stay in an Oxford House as long as they pay their fair share of the rent and don’t drink or use drugs. If someone has been convicted as a sex offender or an arsonist, they cannot live in one of the houses.
Mogel moved into an Oxford House in 2005. He celebrated 11 years clean and sober this January.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com
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