The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has unanimously approved extending the submittal deadline for proposals to rehabilitate the Saint Edward State Park Seminary building in Kenmore.
The action taken by the Commission at its Sept. 10 regular meeting sets a new deadline of Sept. 30, 2016, to allow time for Daniels Real Estate of Seattle or other interested parties to present viable proposals for rehabilitating the building. If no viable plan is in place by the deadline, the Commission could move to vacate the historic seminary.
In August, Daniels Real Estate of Seattle approached State Parks staff with a new concept proposal for the iconic historic structure that stands at the center of the state park on the north shore of Lake Washington. Daniels’ initial concept proposal includes rehabilitating the building for use as a lodge or retreat facility using standards of historic preservation. Daniels also proposes exchanging nearly 10 acres of adjacent undeveloped waterfront land for the seminary building, pool and gymnasium and some of the surrounding open space.
The 90,000 square-foot building served as a Catholic seminary for young men from 1931 to 1976. The property was acquired by the state for park purposes in 1977 from the Archdiocese of Seattle and in 2006 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For nearly four decades, the Saint Edward Seminary building sat mostly vacant and fell into disrepair over the years. During this time, numerous proposals and planning efforts have been considered but did not come to fruition because they were too costly, did not meet the State Parks’ mission, or were not viable for a number of reasons.
In September 2014, the Commission considered a range of management options, from rehabilitation to demolition, and set a deadline of Sept. 30, 2015, for a public or private entity to develop a plan for building reuse or proceed with plans to vacate the building. Staff believed the Daniels concept had sufficient merit to recommend the Commission extend the deadline for another year before moving to vacate.
The park’s natural features and playground will remain as-is for ongoing public use. Saint Edward State Park is popular for its trails, expansive lawns and sports fields and a unique interactive playground that was contributed years ago by a dedicated park friends group. The park has 316 acres and includes 3,000 linear feet of pristine freshwater shoreline on Lake Washington.
For more information about the park, visit http://www.parks.wa.gov/577/Saint-Edward.
