Fate of former school in dispute.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

Two months after a late-night fire tore through its gymnasium, Santa Clara Elementary School is scheduled for demolition next week, much to the disappointment of neighbors who hoped the building would remain intact.

The Eugene School District closed the school in 2002 because of dwindling enrollment and budget woes, dividing its students between Awbrey Park and Spring Creek elementary schools. Since then, the 7.2-acre parcel has been on the district's list of surplus properties earmarked for eventual sale.

While the district had intended to market the property with the building in place, the June 15 arson changed the equation, district Superintendent George Russell said Tuesday.

"I actually had started out to see if there was some way from a feasibility standpoint of trying to save it," he said. "But after looking through all of the information it just doesn't seem to make sense to me to try to hold on to something we'd probably have to demolish anyway."

But Russell's decision to go ahead and raze the 73-year-old school isn't sitting well with some Santa Clara neighbors. They want the building preserved, citing its sentimental and historical importance to the neighborhood. Some also see the school as the ideal home for a much-needed community recreation and meeting center, and want the district to hold off and give them time to explore funding options.

"I think from (the school district's) perspective, they just want to tear down the building so they can sell to the highest bidder, and we don't want them to do that," said Ellen Hyman, a member of the fledgling Santa Clara Committee for Parks & Open Space.

On Tuesday, contractors were getting ready to remove asbestos tiles from the cafeteria, which sits directly below the gutted gymnasium and was flooded with 3 feet of water when firefighters fought the blaze. The gymnasium itself is nothing more than a charred jumble of beams, boards, pipes, insulation, wires and the odd piece of P.E. equipment, including a crumpled basketball hoop and a scorched pommel horse.

While firefighters kept the blaze from spreading beyond the gymnasium and an adjacent room where the fire was set, much of the original building suffered water damage, assistant facilities director Jon Lauch said. The floors are covered in broken glass, soot and other debris, and in places the floor boards appear swollen.

He explained that the roof of the main building was supported by three walls of the gym.

"That's really the crux of what forces the decision of taking the whole structure down," said Lauch, who was called to the scene the night of the fire.

Engineering consultants quickly determined there was no way to restore the gym or cafeteria, Lauch said. To demolish those and merely stabilize the rest of the main building would cost about $164,000. To demolish the gym and cafeteria and actually restore the main building to the pre-fire condition would cost about $480,000.

Razing all the structures, with the exception of a covered play area, will cost approximately $140,000.

Meanwhile, the district is spending about $2,800 a week for 24-hour security. The district had part-time security before the fire, Russell said, because of complaints about trespassing, vandalism and one alleged attempted assault. Now the building is a potential hazard to trespassers.

While some or all of the district's costs would be covered by the $830,000 fire insurance settlement, Russell doesn't see the logic of preserving the building. Even before the fire, he said, there was some question whether a buyer would want the land with the buildings intact.

"Our real estate consultant said there's probably less value with the buildings standing," he said.

He said the district hasn't detected any interest on the part of either the city or a private developer in buying the property and remodeling the school. About two-thirds of the parcel is zoned for public land, the rest for commercial use.

Johnny Medlin, director of the city's division of parks and open space, said a city analysis of the Santa Clara property found it "not optimal" for a community center. Barring any direction from the City Council, he said his department has no intention to study it further.

However, he noted, with nearly $1 million in hand from a 1998 parks and open space bond, the city is continuing to explore options for land acquisition and parks or community center development in the Santa Clara area.

Hyman's group, the Santa Clara Committee for Parks & Open Space, formed about a year ago, she said, to oppose controversial plans by the city to cut a land deal with developers Melvin and Norman McDougal. The proposal, defeated by the City Council in May, would have allowed the McDougals to put houses, apartments and businesses on 120 acres of farmland near Irvington Drive and Northwest Expressway while the McDougals would have given the city 77 adjoining acres for a community park.

The Santa Clara neighbors offered a different plan - one that included several smaller parks and a community center at Santa Clara Elementary.

Hyman said she and other neighbors plan to address the Eugene School Board tonight, and she hopes Russell will delay demolition.

"We could maybe get very creative about how to get some public money as well as some private money" to save the building, she said.

"I know there's a lot of energy and support around saving this school, and I really think the district is just sort of jumping the gun.'

CAPTION(S):

Jon Lauch, a school district official, surveys arson damage to Santa Clara Elementary, which he says will not be rebuilt. The former school, damaged by arson on June 15, is seen by some as an ideal home for a much-needed community recreation and meeting center. Brian Davies / The Register-Guard