The Auburn School Board was expected to pass a resolution this past Monday to put a $239 million bond measure on the March 10 ballot that includes, among its many options, tearing down the current Auburn High School and replacing it with a building south of the current one.
Many questions need to be asked in advance of that vote.
Would the design be sustainable? One of the world’s expert architects on sustainable design (he wrote a book on it) is Seattle’s Dan Williams. In the American Institute of Architects journal he says:
“Typically, the thing that’s missing is the ability to interact with the exterior environment on ‘comfort’ days because the building is a hermetically-sealed box that doesn’t allow the participants to make their own comfort zone work better …”
Williams also is concerned about how to make structures more connected to place. When you think about it, or look at downtown Auburn from the sky – or maps.google.com, with the satellite feature – you see that the ball field there and the nearby field at Washington Elementary are the only bits of open space in downtown Auburn. Veterans Memorial Park is a 7.65-acre jewel, but farther away from downtown.
So, question No. 2 is: How would open space be preserved?
Is there new parking lot technology that can prevent runoff from cars further polluting streams? Well, the answer to that is yes, based on the work of Tom Holz in Lacey. He helped that city adopt a progressive policy for new impervious surfaces designed to protect receiving waters and aquatic resources. The Natural Resources Defense Council says it’s a national model. It’s called the Zero Impact Development Ordinance and it was adopted 10 years ago.
Perhaps it is time for Auburn to do what we can to prevent future floods. Such a policy would have been a good idea for Auburn Mountainview, but that will require vision and an increased commitment.
Would the design recognize Auburn’s culture? West Auburn High School teacher Greg Watson is the expert here, already working with the city to see that Japanese settlers, Native Americans and Auburn’s historic industries are recognized in the new Auburn Junction development.
One example is the glazed and unglazed terra cotta made by the Northern Clay Products Co. in Auburn. It was a backbone industry for Auburn, Renton and Seattle, and used in building many cities and towns all the way north to British Columbia at one time.
These are but a few questions, but more will emerge. Some will say we can’t afford to do this, but that’s another way of saying we need future generations to fix our problems – or worse, that we are not creative enough or committed enough to do so now and impact change.
I hope the school district can find the courage to do the right thing, both for the environment and the future generations it hopes to nurture in the new building.
Paul Nelson has covered sustainability issues since 1990. His organization, Global Voices Radio, works to expand the dialogue about the need for sustainability. For details, please visit
www.SustainableAuburn.org
