Library, school and city could share site

The site of the current middle school may have three new looks over the course of the next year.

A proposal for a public facilities campus on the site was presented to city councilors at a workshop last Thursday, March 27. Council members generally reacted positively to the idea.

The latest suggestion is to turn the current middle school into school administration offices, the new library and a City Hall building, said City Administrator Eileen Stein.

Eric Dolson (publisher of The Nugget) spoke on behalf of the school board's point of view.

"It's already zoned Public Facilities," Dolson said. "If we share resources, would this work?"

The school board has decided not to relocate district offices to the new middle school. That would have cost nearly $100,000.

Moving the offices to the historic brick school building is one idea under consideration.

The current middle school was the top site choice for the new Sisters Library scheduled to begin construction next year, but the 3-1/2 acre property was too big, said Peg Bermel, the Sisters Library Branch Manager.

Meanwhile, City Hall has also been looking to change locations to have a more visible home in town, Stein said.

Locating all three entities on one property might have advantages, Dolson said.

Two possible site plans have been created by the library's architect.

The library's square footage is firm at 8,000 square feet; City Hall is looking for 5,000 square feet, almost doubling the current space.

If a local police department were ever added to the city, this property is spacious enough to expand.

Because the old middle school is a gateway to the city of Sisters from the east, the consensus of all in attendance was not to give way to a commercial enterprise like McDonald's or Safeway at that entrance of town.

The issue may come down to dollars.

The property will undergo an appraisal under both the public facilities zoning and commercial zoning.

"I think personally it is a good idea," Dolson said. "This feels like the right thing."

The library is on a tight schedule. The board is willing to push the timeframe back a bit to see if all of the entities can work together, Bermel said.

The final plans are also contingent on what is most efficient for the school district.

The school board is not ready to commit to the "old brick building," said Dolson.

It may be cheaper to bulldoze it and start from scratch, but part of the charm would be to remodel the middle school as an entrance to the city.

The community may be sentimentally attached to the building and Dolson feels the issue should be taken to the community to hear its take.

Council members were interested to see if they can make this work.

"We're not looking for anything tonight," Mayor Elliott said.

"Rattle the idea around in your heads."

"In the real world, we're not going to all end up with a home run," Dolson said. "But we could all end up with a triple."