106-year-old building gets new home

So how exactly does one go about moving a 106-year-old schoolhouse?

“Very carefully,” was the quick answer from Bothell Public Works Superintendent Clark Meek.

Starting at about 11 p.m. Nov. 14, with plans to wrap things up around 6 a.m. the next morning, the city undertook transporting the historic North Creek Schoolhouse from its former location on 31st Avenue Northeast to a permanent new home in Centennial Park, 1129 208th St. S.E.

According to Meek and others, the next step is restoring the building. He added the city eventually plans to use the school as an interpretive center for the park.

According to Bothell Public Information Officer Joyce Goedeke, the one-room schoolhouse is one of the last remaining in Snohomish County. The schoolhouse was donated to the city by its former owner, the Van Natter family, specifically for the purpose of historic preservation.

“The North Creek Schoolhouse represents the history and the future of this community,” Meek said. “It’s a lasting impression and reminder for our citizens that Bothell values its heritage.”

Released by the city, a few fast facts about the schoolhouse would note its construction in 1902. The building was used as a school for 18 years. It is 23 feet tall, 35 feet long and 24 feet wide.

According to the city’s Landmark Preservation Board, the original location of the schoolhouse was, at the time it was built, a little north of what was then Bothell and the school had only a few children in attendance. The first teachers on record are listed as Edgar Turner and then for a time Charles Beardslee, who legend has it, let his students go fishing during recess.

Meek said the schoolhouse spent part of its long history as a grange hall.

Returning to the initial question about how one moves a 100-plus-year-old structure, Meek said the city was able to find a company experienced with such moves, Nickel Brothers House Moving U.S.A.

The company did return a phone call.

Meek pointed out this is actually the second time the city has moved a historic school. The first schoolhouse known to have existed in Bothell traveled from its original home on Main Street to the Park at Bothell Landing, a move Meek also helped oversee. He added that, fortunately, the North Creek School is structurally sound.

“The foundation is kind of scary,” he said prior to the school’s successful relocation.

That original foundation consisted of wooden logs. Meek said the plan was to place the building on steel beams, then hoist those beams onto so-called moving dollies. Upon its arrival at Centennial Park, the school was placed on blocks, with construction of a permanent foundation planned for sometime in the future.

If the building is structurally sound, Meek said the original porch had to be removed because of deterioration. It will be replaced as restoration of the school moves forward.

The city set the cost of moving the school at $78,500, which came from Bothell’s 2009-2015 Capital Facilities Plan. Bothell will pitch in another $17,000 in grant money toward restoration of the school. But Meek estimated total restoration costs at $350,000 and the city plans some fund-raising efforts to finish the project.

Restoration dollars also will come from sale of the of the 31st Street property where the school was originally built. Meek said that in return for the donation of the school to the city, the Van Natter family requested the city sell the land where the school formerly sat, with the proceeds supporting the restoration.

The city also is accepting donations toward rebuilding the schoolhouse. Anyone who wants to help can contact Public Works Superintendent Patricia Parkhurst at pat.parkhurst@ci.bothell.wa.us or call (425) 486-7430.

The city’s Centennial Park is scheduled to open in April of next year. First planned in 2002, the park is part of Bothell’s Capital Facilities Plan. The project will be broken into phases, including a first phase that should encompass a paved parking lot, paths, utilities, a picnic shelter, tables and restrooms.

Future phases are to feature trails, wetland restoration, boardwalks and overlooks. Total park development costs were given by the city as $3 million to be spent over a six-year period.