Cheney schools prepare for construction; future play fields raise issues
By BECKY THOMAS
Staff Reporter
Cheney School District officials have been attending more city meetings than usual.
They addressed issues surrounding a plan to level Cronk's Hill to build play fields at a Historic Preservation Commission meeting Aug. 5, and brought a Conditional Use Permit application before the Planning Commission Aug. 9.
As Superintendent Larry Keller told the Planning Commission, the district is on a tight timeline to open two new middle schools in the fall of 2012.
“It's a close schedule and we've got to keep checking off these dates and deadlines,” Keller said.
The Planning Commission approved the CUP, which puts a new 110,000 square foot middle school on the same plot of land as the current Cheney Middle School. The district's plans also included staff, visitor and event parking for up to 240 vehicles, which is double the current building's capacity.
Commissioner Tillman Carr questioned the need for additional parking.
“Why can't that be a green space or something as opposed to asphalt?” he asked, pointing out that the new school was expected to house fewer students and staff than the current building.
Architect Tom Golden said city code required one parking spot for every four bleacher seats in the gymnasium, which would seat around 800.
“It generates a number well over 200, so we're not too far off in terms of additional parking that's required by the city,” Golden said.
The commission discussed future growth in the district, and Keller said current projections show the school will need additional classrooms added on in 15-18 years.
“That's all being planned for,” he said.
Traffic impacts were expected to decrease with the new building, though Cheney Public Works director Todd Ableman said the city would look at placing a 20 mile per hour speed zone on Betz Road near the school.
Also at the meeting, former city planner Elisa Rodriguez spoke during the citizen comment period, pointing out that the city's comprehensive plan calls for an extension of Eighth Street to Betz, along with a bicycle route.
“Behind the school is a large neighborhood with a lot of kids,” she said. “For example my block has 15 children that will be entering middle school in the next ten years, including my own children. So there are a lot of children there; it would be nice to have access through Golden Hills where Eighth would go up to Betz rather than going all the way around either on Washington or North Sixth.”
Rodriguez said the city should implement its comprehensive plan and include language in the CUP requiring bicycle and pedestrian access from Eighth Street to Betz Road.
The district officials expressed support for the idea, saying they had plans to build fields in that area and had always planned to include bike and pedestrian paths. The commission approved the CUP with additional language requiring the district to install the bicycle and pedestrian access.
Earlier that week, Keller and McClure spoke with the members of the Historic Preservation Commission about the implications of new plans to build practice fields between the high school and middle school, work which would level Cronk's Hill, a historically significant landmark in Cheney.
Commissioner Ann Heehn read a brief history of the hill visible from Sixth Street behind the Mormon church. The hill housed a fort in 1878, which was built by settlers and former Civil War soldiers to protect against Indian attacks. It was named Fort Crunk after the George Crunk family who homesteaded in the Four Lakes area. After the threat of attack was gone, the building became a school. Heehn said her research suggested it was the second school founded in Spokane County.
The district purchased the hill, along with surrounding property abutting the high school and middle school plots, in 2009.
At the meeting, McClure shared plans for soccer, baseball and softball fields to occupy the land where the hill currently stands. He said the district needed more field space and the development would add to recreational opportunities for the community as well. The commissioners expressed concern about the district's plan to level the hill.
“I can see both sides, that you need the play fields and we'd like to see the hill remain,” commission president Bettye Hull said. “Kids have been playing on that for decades and it's a shame to lose the hill.”
McClure said he would ask the commission to provide a design and description for an informational sign on the property, in order to teach people about the property's history.
“To me the hill is less important than the fact that that was the location where the school was,” McClure said. “We're happy to keep it in school district hands.”
Heehn said she understood the need for fields, but asked why the district hadn't announced their plans for the property earlier. Keller said the fields would likely be paid for with money from a November bond for the new schools' construction.
“I think you really need to get out there and communicate this with the citizens and not just charge ahead with it,” Heehn said.
The commission also asked whether documentation could be done of the current middle school before demolition. McClure said he would provide blueprints and allow access for photographs of the building.
Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].
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