Community members, architects discuss new Genesee Hill elementary school

BLRB Architects presented the current state of the plans for a new school to be built on the site of the old Genesee Hill Elementary during a Community Conversation held Thursday, March 14.

By Gwen Davis

Parents and community members gathered at a Community Conversation on Thursday evening to discuss the proposed site for a new elementary school on Genesee Hill.

The meeting focused on how the new facility would physically look. Architects of the company to construct the building, BLRB, presented a PowerPoint showcasing diagrams of the proposed plan. The diagrams were crude rough-drafts of the final version, they said, analogous to crayon sketches.

The building will not near actual construction for another year.

This meeting was one of the first of many opportunities the public will have to raise questions and submit comments. During the hour and a half meeting, facilitators wrote down attendees concerns on a large white easel. Around 20 community members showed.

Questions were raised about safety and security, parameters of the playfield, number of stories, venues for parent drop-off, numbers of students the facility could accommodate, and others. Architects frequently said they didnt know the answers to questions, simply because this was still in such an initial phase.

BLRB will need to work with the Seattle Department of Transportation and other city agencies as the plans become more finalized.

Facilitators said they were eager to address the concerns of the community and looked forward to more conversations in the near future.

This story will be updated

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Community members, architects discuss new Genesee Hill elementary school