Construction Updates

Get the most up-to-date information from the District Website about James Baldwin Elementary Construction Planning, with Meeting Minutes of the Design Advisory Committee. The current schedule puts the new building to open for the 2023-24 school year.

December 2019

Completed School Design Advisory Team (SDAT) process. Learn more about SDAT and read meeting minutes.
Selected General Contractor/Construction Manager (Lydig Construction).
Began forming departures committee with Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods.
Participated in the James Baldwin Arts and Crafts Fair.
Scheduled Haller Lake Community Club presentation for January.

October 18, 2019: James Baldwin Elementary School Design Advisory Team Selected.

The School Design Advisory Team (SDAT) for the James Baldwin Elementary School Replacement project is a team made up of school staff, parents, neighbors and community members. There have been 12 individuals selected to work closely with the School District Capital Projects Project Manger, the Architects and Principal Fauntleroy to craft the concepts and site-specific specifications to guide development of the detailed plans for the James Baldwin ES Replacement project. The team was selected to provide a mix of community knowledge, instructional experience and design expertise.

The SDAT team consists of:

Linda Sinni, Teacher
Any Kopiloff, Teacher
Laura Root, Teacher
Melie Ros, Teacher
Guillermo Carvajal, Family Support at James Baldwin ES
Tatiana Apostolou, Parent
Nicole Sud, Parent
Feben Ghirmatzion, Parent
Mary Ann Johnson, Neighbor
Sheryl Lynn Grater, Neighbor
Jessica Ziparo, Neighbor
Ms. Dedy Fauntleroy, Principal

The group will be working directly with district Project Manager Vince Gonzales and coordinating closely with the designers at NAC Architecture. The following dates are when the SDAT will meet. If you have interest in joining the team, please contact the James Baldwin Elementary school office at 206-252-4180.

Schedule:

October 29th, 2019 – Workshop 1 – Project orientation
November 6th, 2019 – Workshop 2 – School Tours
November 12th, 2019 – Workshop 3 – Visioning and Goal Setting
December 2nd, 2019 – Workshop 4 – Design Charrette
December 16th, 2019 – Workshop 5 – Concept Design Presentation
January 2020 – Community Meetings

May 30, 2019: Architect Chosen!

Our architect to build the new school is NAC Architecture. They are very interested in making sure we put equity at the forefront of our new building. The James Baldwin Elementary team was very impressed with them at the interview. They should be in contact with us soon.
Right now, James Baldwin Elementary is being reviewed to see if it is a landmark. If the Seattle Landmark Committee determines it to be a landmark, the existing structure could not be demolished and would impede the space available for parking and playgrounds. We need parent and community support to let the Landmark Committee know that the old school is not adding to the benefit of our city or children. Stay tuned when that meeting will be, sometime in August, September or October 2019.

March, 2019:

James Baldwin Elementary is one of the 8 major BEX V construction projects. The anticipated finish date will be for the 2023-24 school year. The new school would be a 650 seat school. The current school is about a 300 seat school at full capacity. Funding for the levy will be collected over the next 6 years.

Each project schedule will include identifying timelines for design, building permits and other regulatory requirements, moving to interim sites as needed, and construction activities.
Project scheduling is developed based on a number of factors:

1) Funding for the BEX V capital levy will be collected over a period of six years. Projects will need to be sequenced over the six-year period and cannot be all constructed at one time.
2) Many projects depend on the ability to move students at existing schools to interim sites. John Marshall is the interim site for north end schools, but maybe the new James Baldwin Elementary can be built on the empty field and we can stay in our school during construction. We don’t know that for sure yet, but let’s hope that is the case.
3) It is important to allow adequate time for the planning and design process. Larger schools are anticipated to take longer to plan, design and secure building permits.The first step for each project will be the selection of the project architect and engineering team.

We anticipate beginning design work for some schools by September 2019.

October, 2023:

The school was finished in August, and the playground is scheduled to be completed in December.