OPINION: Former mayors need to honor the past

The group of former mayors that gathered to write about the importance of good vibrant downtown schools missed a big point in their argument, and that is the importance of recognizing, understanding and honoring our history. They were correct in noting that a vibrant thriving downtown needs good schools to support the new downtown residents and businesses. What they missed, though, is that Inlet View has historic value both in the building and its location on the land. It is a building that deserves to be saved and improved, not razed. They are correct when they note there is neighborhood-wide support for the school; however, that support was very divided and not clearly in support of the proposed replacement school.

Inlet View was designed in 1956 by Ed Crittenden, who has been called the “Father of Alaskan Architecture.” The existing school is the only remaining public building that is an example of the Mid-century Modern style of architecture in Anchorage. It is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. A 2014 report prepared for the Anchorage School District, by the same architects proposing a replacement school, noted alternative solutions to extend the building life; least costly, repair and remodel/expand the existing building, or rebuild, most expensive. The least expensive option, extend building life, is one-third the cost of replacement, while the expanded renewal is close to two-thirds the cost of replacement.

Anchorage is not very good at historic preservation. We are losing many of Anchorage’s historic and culturally unique buildings. The recent demolition of the Fourth Avenue Theatre is a prime example. It’s loss is a loss for downtown, as many have noted, including many of Alaska’s notable architects. Yet as a privately owned building, the owners are not obligated to save the historically relevant structure. We, as the public, should expect more from publicly owned facilities. Indeed, it could cost more in the long run to repair, remodel, update and expand the existing building to make it the best facility possible for young learners. When we restore rather than raze, we make a tangible connection to the past and we create an incredible educational opportunity for students to understand history. What we get when we preserve is an immensely more valuable building that tells so many more stories about who we are, what we have done and what we value. Preserving existing buildings makes better use of tax dollars by reducing the increase of impervious surfaces, using existing rather than expanding sewer and utility connections and avoiding landfill waste. Not all of these costs are included in the new building’s construction cost and are indirectly borne by taxpayers.

Will the proposed new school be as good as the existing building? Not likely, in my opinion — the proposed new school is underfunded; the design was almost complete before COVID-19 and the construction budget has not increased since then, and we know costs have gone up. So cuts to the building have likely been made. Looking at 95% complete plans, the playground alone will be one-third to one-half the size of the existing playground. The playfields will be smaller and the landscaping will provide a fraction of the environmental services that the current site provides — habitat, clean air, storm water storage and water filtration. Indeed, it will take 10 to 20 years before the proposed landscaping can provide the environmental services the current trees provide.

The main argument for a replacement school is cost and the convenience of keeping children at the existing school during the two-year construction timeframe. The costs of the remodel may eventually exceed the cost of a new building; however, it will likely be easier to phase a remodel of the existing building versus starting from scratch. This gives the ASD the ability to fund other schools now and incrementally fund Inlet View improvements. Using the existing playfields, hockey rink and play structures alone will save millions of dollars.

The existing school is a neighborhood school; the proposal to turn it into an IB school would make it a community school, and that means more people driving and dropping children off versus encouraging walking and bicycling and discouraging vehicle use. This means a bigger parking lot, more drop-off space and accommodating children from outside the neighborhood, which will not likely include low-income and more diverse students.

When Denali Elementary School was replaced, students were bused while the new school was being built. We’ve heard from a past principal that this is actually less disruptive to students than living in a construction zone.

My children went to Inlet View. At the time, I did not appreciate the strong horizontal lines of the one-story building and how the school hugs to the north and rests into the landscape, allowing a huge expanse of southern exposure for playfields and playgrounds. I thank Mr. Crittenden for his excellent design and siting of the school in 1956, and I hope we can honor his creative, thoughtful design that is now the only remaining structure of its type in Anchorage.

M. Elise Huggins is a licensed landscape architect, Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and a local business owner, who has worked on site plans for more than 100 ASD facilities.

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