By John McCallum
Editor 

Fisher Building to find new life with Eastern students

 

Last updated 1/5/2017 at 9:31am



When it comes to the case of the Cheney School District’s surplused Fisher Building, apparently the fourth time was the charm.

After three previous purchase proposals for the district’s former high school, junior high and administration building fell through, school officials closed a deal Nov. 28 with Eastmark Capital Group of Seattle to purchase the building for $750,000. The sale, and subsequent renovation by Eastmark, is the No. 2 education story for 2016.

The Fisher Building, originally constructed in 1929, was declared surplus by the school district’s board of directors in late spring 2013 after the district moved its administration offices out of the 57,128-square-foot structure to new property it had previously acquired on Needham Hill off Anderson Road. The firm of Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry appraised the building at $1,000,055, noting that it would likely require at least an estimated $5.76 million to renovate the building for continued use as an educational facility.

Eastmark’s Sean Barnes approached the district this past summer with a purchase offer, hoping to not only turn the building into student apartments but have it listed on the national, state and local historic registries. Eastmark is still in the process of obtaining the first two, and the Cheney Historical Preservation Commission obliged his request on the latter at their Nov. 3 meeting.

According to building information filed with Cheney, Eastmark plans to renovate the Fisher Building into 36 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for students. The plans call for both the original building and a 1952 addition along Fifth Street to remain, with a portable classroom building along College Avenue to be removed.

To achieve historical registry status, and potential financial assistance that comes with it, Eastmark must maintain at least the original nature of the building’s exterior. In an Oct. 6 Cheney Free Press story, Eastmark consultant Lori Noto said they also are planning to retain as many historical aspects of the building’s interior as possible, including a portion of the 300-seat auditorium and the gymnasium.

“We’re excited to have somebody who has a vision for the building,” Associate Superintendent Sean Dotson said about the purchase and renovation details in a Dec. 1 Cheney Free Press story.

Kassidy Probert, district executive director of finance, said the district planned to put the proceeds from the sale into its capital projects fund, but had not identified any intended uses right now.

One thought on that was the funds would be available should any capital facilities need arise, Probert said, but added that since most of the money in the fund is earmarked for specific projects, having a bit more is a bonus.

“It’s just nice to have some capital project funds available,” he said.

Since Dec. 1, officials with Eastmark’s contractor, Yost Gallagher, have been busy with removing portions of the interior in order to begin renovation work. In an email, Noto said they have a target date to open the building in time for the start of fall quarter 2017 at Eastern Washington University.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

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