Moses Lake reveals school site plans

MOSES LAKE — Preliminary site plans for an elementary school in Moses Lake are being shown to the public Tuesday.

The architect's design can be viewed at a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the Moses Lake High School choir room.

Architects Brent Harding and Steve McNutt are talking to the board about the educational specifications and schematic design of the site.

Harding said he and McNutt are available to answer questions from the public.

Special Assistant to the Superintendent P.J. De Benedetti said the design places the front of the school on Peninsula Drive. The back of the softball and soccer field meets Lakeshore Drive.

The Moses Lake school board selected the district-owned 11-acre site in April for Moses Lake's first new elementary school since 1959. De Benedetti said the school could open by the fall of 2009.

Instead of students walking through outdoor wings to get to class, hallways are indoors.

"None of our current elementaries have enclosed hallways," De Benedetti said.

Harding said he has not seen a school designed with outdoor wings in at least 20 years.

Room is available for expansion on four sides of the school.

"It's designed in such a way that if we wanted to add a few classrooms down the road, we'd be able to do that," De Benedetti said.

A courtyard sits in the center of the school with classrooms on two sides. De Benedetti said state guidelines specify a certain amount of light must enter classrooms.

"There's going to be a lot more window space in the schools than we have in our current schools," he said.

Construction is funded as part of a $33.8 million sale of voter-approved bonds. A second elementary school is funded by the bonds, plus an expansion of special education space, an additional gym at Chief Moses Middle School, safety upgrades, technology upgrades, a completion of the Lions Field project and new facilities for the district's transportation, maintenance and warehouse departments.