Re: Old High School

[Bruce Haglund <bhaglund@uidaho.edu>]

At 04:04 PM 7/6/98 -0700, you wrote:
>
>
>It is important to note that Mike Sohns -- despite his objection to public
>expenditures -- is in fact suggesting that we should expend
>public funds to subsidize automobiles.
>
>Dale Goble
>Moscow
>
visionaries,
I was hoping more of you would chime in. Dale and Tom Lamar are right about
the parking/auto problem. More parking encourages more auto use. Parking is
expensive in many ways. 
(I'm an Adams Street neighbor of the HS and students park in front of my
house--two blocks from school, close enough, I'd say. I note the extent of
their parking pattern as I walk to work each day.)
The notion that old buildings are some kind of problem just because they
are old is wrong. Spending the $3,000,000 to rennovate the old HS would
deliver an exceptionally sound building with durable finishes (low
maintenance) and new systems (HVAC, lighting--low maintenance and energy
saving) all this for $100/square foot--you can only build new buildings of
low quality (high mainteneance) for less. Regrettably, we rarely build as
well today. So the bottom line is a bargain price AND a valuable cultural
resource is saved. The old HS will delight Moscow residents for many more
years than a parking lot will. (Note that my office is in a building even
older than the old HS and it's a very delightful place--in spite of my
clutter.)
Also, I thought no public funds were used to purchase (save) the building
and that fund raising for remodelling would occur.
Bruce Haglund 
Chair, Dept of Architecture