Two public entities, the Bainbridge Island Metro Parks and Recreation District and the BI School District, shook hands on a $2.2 million deal April 17 that will unite a forest and send a lifeline to the schools.
About 39 acres of woodland next to the Grand Forest East on Mandus Olsen Road will be conserved in perpetuity under the mantle of the parks district, after the school board voted to surplus the property earlier this year. The park will remain accessible to the district for educational purposes.
On the surface, the sale won’t change much for the public: BIMPRD has long handled the trail network on the land and the district has performed natural resource management. But the funding will help BISD jumpstart needed seismic retrofits at some of the school district’s aging buildings, instead of dipping into its strained fund balance.
“This is a win-win moment for the school district and the Bainbridge Island community,” said BISD superintendent Amii Thompson. “The money from the sale will allow BISD to make…improvements at the district’s two oldest schools — Ordway Elementary and Commodore Options.”
When BISD first approached the parks district with an offer to sell the parcel in January, it gave BIMPRD “a pretty tight timeframe” to come up with funding, said parks executive director Dan Hamlin at the April 17 parks meeting. But letting go of a piece of the Grand Forest was out of the question.
“The community has known the property for years, and has been using it as part of the Grand Forest,” Hamlin said.
The land was appraised at $3.2 million, but BISD agreed to reduce the price by $1 million as long as it could retain access to the land for passive outdoor education in perpetuity, explained parks Commissioner Ken DeWitt.
Two environmental nonprofits, the BI Land Trust and the BI Parks and Trails Foundation, stepped up to assist the agency with the purchase as part of BILT’s “Stand for the Land” campaign, setting a goal of $2.4 million; so far, “fundraising has been going extremely well,” Hamlin said.
The sale was “the second to last piece of the funding puzzle,” for the parks, DeWitt said.
“We are waiting to know exactly how much money the Land Trust is bringing to the table to fund its purchase of the (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions) from the Park District. Hopefully, at our next board meeting, we will be able to approve the sale of the CC&R deed to the Land Trust,” he said. “The past 4 months have been intense, to say the least, but this transaction shows what can be done when local government agencies and their private partners come together to achieve a common goal.”
The sentiment was mutual for the school district.
“What I love about [this agreement] specifically is that even though development is going to continue, houses are going to continue to be built, our natural environment will slowly erode over time — that’s just human nature — knowing that we have a relatively pristine, heavily wooded area with an abundance of wildlife and habitat for our students to visit in future biology classes is of great value to the district,” said Dane Fenwick, director of capital projects, facilities and operations at BISD.
The purchase agreement coincides with BISD’s ongoing effort to close a $6.6 million budget gap before the 2025-26 school year, which, if left unaddressed, could land the school district in binding conditions with its regional oversight. Proceeds from the purchase agreement will not go into the general fund, but will instead be directed to the Capital Projects fund.
At the BISD special session April 17, the school board authorized the district to move forward with a $1.79 million contract with CDK Construction for seismic safety upgrades at several buildings, construction of which may begin this summer.
The age of the Ordway and Commodore buildings and scope of work needed to achieve an adequate safety rating by the state means remediation, rather than reconstruction, is the most efficient course of action, Fenwick explained. Currently, the buildings are at a three-star rating, meaning their age and materials may pose a threat to building occupants in a strong earthquake.
School board president Evan Saint Clair described the project upgrades as “making a sturdy box and attaching it to the ground,” which Fenwick agreed summarized the planned construction. Brand-new buildings like Blakely Elementary are able to withstand substantial seismic forces that exceed what the state considers sufficient for safety performance, which just isn’t realistic for the older structures, Fenwick explained.
“If we were to try and bring either of those buildings up to modern code, it would be almost prohibitively expensive. In Commodore and Ordway’s case, right on the hills, it would actually cost more than to construct new, because not only do we have to demolish the materials at premium, it’s harder work to conduct, and it takes longer if we’re keeping various components and sheer walls of the existing buildings,” he said.
