Before plans can be made regarding new capital bond construction in the Lake Oswego School District, the district’s long-range facilities plan committee has to weigh a potential partnership with the city of Lake Oswego.
On Feb. 7, Lake Oswego City Manager Martha Bennett sent a memo to LOSD Superintendent Jennifer Schiele expressing interest in the 9.4-acre property along Boones Ferry Road — specifically, a school district and city partnership to use part of the land for a new library or community center.
One of the Lake Oswego City Council’s top priorities in 2024 is to plan the development of a new community center on the west side of town that would potentially include library services.
“As the Lake Oswego School District and the Long-Range Planning Committee discusses the future of investments and renovations to Lake Oswego School District properties, the City of Lake Oswego would like to start a dialogue about a possible partnership between the City and District on the future of the Lake Grove Elementary School property,” Bennett said in the letter. “As we have begun to develop a work plan for this initiative, staff has done a preliminary review of properties that could be a good home for a west-side community center, with an eye towards properties that are within the Lake Grove Village Center Urban Renewal District. Lake Grove Elementary quickly surfaced as a possible site.”
The memo added that a new community center and/or library services branch could be combined with a new administrative building for the school district to create a “community hub.”
The committee has set nothing in stone. They’ll continue to meet monthly and discuss possible construction, renovation and rebuild options for the long-range facilities plan. This plan becomes the foundation for the next capital construction bond.
“At present, our LRFP Committee is working on the next iteration of our long-range facility plan. This citizen committee reviews various factors, including facility condition reports, educational adequacy assessments, and considerations for our capital bond improvement program. The LRFP Committee is considering plans for Lake Grove Elementary School, and the City’s interest in a potential City improvement constructed at the district’s Lake Grove property is one aspect informing their review process,” the district said in an email.
At the Monday, May 20 school board meeting the committee will present the long-range facilities plan, which outlines the school district’s goals for the next bond cycle and beyond. The district said that, until the committee makes recommendations regarding the Lake Grove property, it will wait to comment on the possibility of a library or community center at the location.
While the committee is working on and drafting the long-range facilities plan, the future of Lake Grove is being discussed. Also to be addressed are the future of Forest Hills Elementary, a new administrative center, a new community transition program building and other possible capital construction bond projects.
What the committee said about future Lake Grove uses
During the planning committee meeting on Tuesday, March 12, four possibilities were presented for the future of the Lake Grove property.
The first is to rebuild the school and keep the existing two fields for student use. The second was to rebuild the school, remove the fields and use the available space for new LOSD administrative and CTP buildings.
The third and fourth possibilities don’t entail a rebuild of Lake Grove on the Boones Ferry Road property. The third case study would build new administrative and CTP buildings at the property along with a community center or library, while also reserving property along Boones Ferry for a mixed commercial-residential development. The fourth option would build the “community hub” buildings – library/community center, administrative building and CTP – without any private development along Boones Ferry Road.
If Lake Grove Elementary is not rebuilt on the current property, the committee discussed moving the elementary school location to the vacant former Uplands Elementary building. This would not involve a rebuild because the district has already invested around $14 million into the facility.
While discussing the four options, LRFPC members expressed that students should have access to the two fields that would be eliminated at Lake Grove – arguing for moving the elementary school location to Uplands. It was noted that partnerships with private development or the city would also provide additional revenue for the school district.
Mayor Joe Buck recognized “potential synergy in timing and location” for the city and school district regarding Lake Grove.
“From the City’s perspective we’re looking for an accessible location that can leverage funding options including urban renewal, a possibility at the Lake Grove site. The community has long desired a stronger civic presence and location for community gathering in Lake Grove which this site would also achieve. First and foremost are the needs of the School District and their students as we work together to meet broader comprehensive community needs in a potentially creative way,” continued Buck in a message sent to the Review.
Until May 20, the committee will continue to work toward a shared vision of the future of all district facilities. Lake Grove is one of the oldest buildings in the district, originally built in 1949, and suffered severe damage following the recent ice storm.
The committee plans to complete the draft of its facilities plan on April 25, a month before it is presented to the board in May. Public comment and discussion are part of both the bond and facilities plan process.
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