A Bellingham private school is seeking approval to renovate part of one of its existing buildings on Northwest Avenue and add a two-story addition.
Franklin Academy, located in two buildings at 3000 Northwest Ave. and 1509 E. Victor St. in the Columbia Neighborhood, is proposing a 7,256-square-foot addition to Robin Hall, its Northwest Avenue location, to house a commons area, eight classrooms and a staff lounge.
The school must receive approval from the hearing examiner for an amendment to its conditional use permit to move forward with construction. Franklin Academy is a STEM-integrated private school for preschoolers through eighth graders.
Head of School Gretchen Bucsko said the outdated infrastructure in Robin Hall is no longer meeting the needs of their students.
Currently, half of the library in Markell Hall, the East Victor Street location, is being used as a classroom, with a curtain separating the space into two. Spanish and STEM specialists tote their belongings around on carts, rather than having their own classrooms.
The expansion will allow for those specialists to have their own space, move the second-graders from Markell Hall to Robin Hall and make other needed upgrades to the aging building.
While The Bellingham Herald reported last fall that neighbors expressed concern about the impact of the project on traffic and parking at a neighborhood meeting, no substantial public comment was heard at a Wednesday, April 24 hearing. Two community members submitted written public comments with concerns about traffic, parking and construction noise.
The project won’t increase student enrollment, Bucsko said, as it will just allow for more space for existing students. The school’s conditional use permit allows them to have 525 students, but they only have 393 enrolled currently, Bucsko said.
A memorandum submitted by Transpogroup states the project won’t generate a change in the volume of traffic due to the enrollment staying the same, but it will shift some traffic from Markell Hall to Robin Hall. That amounts to an estimated additional 186 daily trips to Robin Hall and a decrease of 186 daily trips to Markell Hall.
Bucsko said the school doesn’t have a timeline yet for the build but hopes to construct it within the next two years, if the amendment to their conditional use permit is approved.
Robin Hall, which was previously been a Safeway and a medical clinic, according to Bucsko, was built in the 1960s. Its infrastructure is crumbling, Bucsko said, pointing out a crack in the exterior wall of a courtyard. Existing classrooms where the renovation and expansion are proposed have issues: one has heating problems, while another has damage from flooding.
Franklin Academy was founded in 1971. It started as St. Paul’s Academy, a preschool in the St Paul’s Episcopal Church basement, but it’s now independent, Bucsko said.
“For me, my heart is just giving our students the best environment possible, so I really hope our community can get behind that and help us with that,” Bucsko said. “I think this is actually a really nice addition to our neighborhood.”
Hearing Examiner Sharon Rice said she expects to release a written decision on the application between May 10 and May 14.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
