Historic Schools

The auditorium at Boise High is threatened!

Boise High's Auditorium Threatened

Only weeks after completing the demolitions of Cole and Franklin elementary schools, the Boise School District (BSD) will decide the fate of yet another Boise landmark. In the latest of a series of seismic stabilization efforts at sites across the city, the BSD will soon decide how best to retrofit the historic auditorium at Boise High School.

Some Boiseans have mixed feelings about the destruction of Cole, which was built in 1888.

Bethann Stewart, Idaho Statesman

August 12, 2009 - Ami Rumble's husband and two of her kids spent several years at Cole, which they loved, she wrote in an e-mail.

But the economy has hit everyone hard, she said.

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.