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A home on Tillucum Street in Renton; one of many that the School District is attempting to purchase to build a new softball field
As I’ve discussed previously in this article concerning Renton Airport, the Renton School District has been buying up properties north and east of Renton High School to expand the school’s site.
Some owners of homes and business owners have reached an agreement with the district– reluctantly in some cases. The map below shows the status of the purchases to date. Some of the early agreements were commercial or rental properties, which are somewhat easier to price.
But there are many homeowners shocked and saddened that the district is pressing them to turn over their homes. Some of them have preserved the property in their families for many years, and some are families who financially stretched to buy a home of their own. This neighborhood’s residents have have been part of the fabric of our downtown for decades, and many are deeply rooted in our schools, clubs and other organizations. For most, their homes are not just a roof and four walls on a lot– they are their histories, futures, hopes, dreams, and connections.
The District has not been able to entice these property owners into selling at a price the District is willing to pay. So the School District is preparing to use eminent domain. Tonight’s Public Hearing is a step in that process. I plan to attend to learn more.
The hearing will occur at 6:00 PM at the Kohlwes Education Center at 300 SW 7th street.
The agenda can be found by clicking here. The Presentation, including the chart below, can be found by clicking here.
A map of Renton School District’s completed purchases (green/blue), intended immediate eminent domain takings (red), and still in negotiation but potential eminent domain actions (yellow).
A lovely historic home on Tobin Street across from Renton High that the Renton School District wants to buy
A home on Tobin that has already been purchased
The Tillicum/Shattuck road sign is visible in front of a home already purchased. At Monday’s City Council meeting a speaker noted that Tillicum Street is the only street in Renton with an indigenous name (a Chinook word, meaning “Friends”), and much of this street will be going away.
This commercial property on Airport Way is also a part of the proposed eminent domain action. A recent Renton Reporter article said the District and owner are still over a million dollars apart.
All this expenditure for additional sports fields is unfortunate.
I wish the Renton School District would devote more attention to delivering a high-quality education that prepares our children for the future.
It may be time to consider new leadership on the school board.
How do they explore ten sites and decide building a new school while keeping the other one operating on the same property, and also a potential battle with the airport, was the best idea? I want to know what the ten sites were.
The Renton school board doesn’t care what anyone in the community thinks. Public comment is a farce. They’ve already made up their mind behind closed doors. As someone who made multiple public comments to them pleading for a different solution on another issue I feel disillusioned about their capacity to change their plans based on community feedback.
How the Renton School Board can sleep at night I don’t understand. I haven’t spoken to any student who wants another ball field. Nor has the RSB presented any information that stated the students wanted a ball field.
There was one student who voiced to me that the students want a swimming pool like they were promised years ago. Such a pool could be built in the area the school already owns to the north of Memorial Stadium.
Many schools within cities utilize the fields provided by other schools or the city in which they are in and this is not a hardship, it is expected. There are so many other benefits to having a school downtown that this is just a trade-off.
There is surely something nefarious going on behind the scenes because this plan is ludicrous. And the fact that the City Council and Mayor are doing nothing to work with the school board in order to maintain the housing in downtown Renton shows both incompetence and lack of integrity.