Cole, Franklin schools in Boise to be torn down

Preservationists had hoped at least part of the historic buildings could be saved.

Bethann Stewart, Idaho Statesman

August 11, 2009 - The Boise School Board voted unanimously Monday to tear down two former elementary schools in the hopes of making the properties more attractive to potential buyers.

"The administration feels strongly if we get those properties off, we'll have a better chance of selling (the land)," Boise School District spokesman Dan Hollar said before Monday's meeting.

Pete Bailey, the executive director of operations for the Boise School District, told the board there already have been incidents of vandalism at the two buildings, the roof at Cole Elementary leaks, and the cost of the demolition is expected to be lower because of the economic downturn.

The cost to raze the buildings was not available Monday, but the district spends between $1,200 and $1,500 a month to maintain each school, Hollar said.

The Boise School District closed Cole and Franklin schools in 2008 as part of a districtwide building improvement program.

None of the board members anticipated two years ago how the market was going to change, trustee Beatrice Black said.

"It's in the best interest of our constituency to maximize the value of the properties," Black said. "It's our responsibility to get the most that we can for those properties."

But preservationists argued that saving the historic buildings might have more value than the cost of tearing them down.

Both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cole, at 7415 Fairview Ave., was first built in 1888 and is Boise's oldest-standing school building. Franklin Elementary, at 5007 Franklin Road, was built in 1905.

Dan Everhardt, president of Preservation Idaho, asked the board to delay the decision until there was time for more public input.

"Cole is the last bastion of early Boise history in a wasteland of nothingness," Everhardt said before the meeting. "There is no sense of place to those strip malls."

Filling landfills with the remnants of historic buildings is not environmentally sustainable, Everhardt said.

He also argued that when voters approved the $96 million bond in 2006 for new schools, it was with the understanding that Franklin and Cole would remain intact.

"The bottom line is once they're gone, they're never coming back," Everhardt said.

Sheri Freemuth, program officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a parent of children in the district, said historic buildings are typically cornerstones of redevelopment.

"Send an example to our students that history matters," Freemuth said.

Also Monday night, the board approved an agreement with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to sell Mountain Cove Alternative High School near Fort Boise Downtown for $2.635 million.