Plans for school site move ahead

The historic old Sisters school site will likely serve as an administration building for the school district. It will sit next to a new Sisters Library and City Hall. photo by Jim Cornelius Sisters' dream of creating a cluster of public buildings at the town's eastern portal is receiving encouragement.

The plan would see a city hall, a library and the school district's administration building standing together on a three-acre site formerly occupied by the Sisters Middle School.

The middle school moved into the former high school building on the other side of town when a new high school opened last fall. That allowed the district to sell the portion of the former middle school site that lies north of what eventually will be an eastward extension of Cascade Avenue.

The City of Sisters bought 32,400 square feet on the northeast corner of the property and the Deschutes Public Library District bought an adjacent 43,200 square feet on the northwest corner.

Both buyers paid $9 per square foot, yielding $680,400 for the school district. Part of that money has been used for demolition of much of the old middle school, including the gym. Part will go for other development expenses, including the district's share of the cost of extending Cascade Avenue.

But on the assumption that it will net at least $500,000 from the sale after expenses, the school board is moving ahead to determine whether the distinctive brick structure that was retained can be renovated and used for the district's administration building -- headquarters for the superintendent and other members of the central staff.

The familiar dark red brick structure trimmed in white sits at the northwest corner of Locust Street and Highway 20. It was built as a high school in 1937.

At the last school board meeting, October 11, board member Eric Dolson gave his colleagues an optimistic assessment of the exploratory findings to date. Dolson, who is publisher of The Nugget, is a member of the board's facilities committee and has served as point man for the project. In his report to the board and a later interview he offered this description:

"Early on, there was concern about the basic soundness of the building...The board had some misinformation about its condition. But it turns out that the building is in wonderful shape."

There was concern, for example, that the district "would have to address seismic issues. But that isn't true because the building is so well built."

It is a wood frame structure with brick veneer, Dolson explained, not just a purely brick structure.

"Early on there was concern that it would cost more to renovate than to build something new," he said. "But it appears that the actual cost to renovate will be less than half the cost of building new, and we may qualify for a variety of grants that would be dedicated to preserving this wonderful bit of Sisters history."

How much is that? Dolson said, "It's hard to do new construction (of a building of this type) now for less than $100 to $120 a square foot." The would-be administration building contains about 5,000 square feet.

A company has been hired to provide "construction documents and as-built drawings," which are necessary before the board can invite renovation bids. Dolson hopes that these documents will be in hand in November and that the project can then be put out to bid right away.

If bids are satisfactory and the price is right, Dolson hopes construction can begin by February 1 with completion in time for the district to move its administrative offices before its current lease expires at the end of June. It leases space on the second floor of the former Monson Building at the corner of Hood and Pine.

Eliminating that lease will save the district about $22,000 a year in rent, money "that can be used to educate children," Dolson said.

Dolson emphasized that the administration building project "will be paid for entirely out of the proceeds from the sale of the remainder of the property to the library and the city. No money will be spent on this project from our operating funds. Spending (this money) from my point of view is an investment. Nothing we will do to the building will make it unsuitable for general office use."

One of the school district's partners in the enterprise, the library district, has said it hopes to begin construction of a new Sisters Library by February 1, the same target date as the one on Dolson's calendar.

The third partner, the City of Sisters, appears to be stymied with respect to a new city hall until it can sell the former Multnomah Publishers office building on Adams Avenue. It bought the building to turn it into a city hall but learned that bringing the structure into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act would cost too much.