HOA’s relationship with La Conner School District began in 2011 when we were asked to perform a facility condition assessment of their six major academic buildings. All housed on one campus, most of these aging, historical buildings were reaching a critical point where the facilities were nearing the end of their useful life. At the competition of the assessment, the district was presented with a prioritized list of deficiencies, which was used to develop a plan for the subsequent bond. After extensive master planning, the project that ultimately rose to the top required swapping the program of the elementary school and middle school buildings in order to consolidate the district’s secondary students into one zone of campus.
Through a series of phased projects on an occupied campus, HOA worked with the district to modify the old middle school to become the new home of the elementary school. Attention then turned to developing an educational specifications document that would guide the design team as they replaced the middle school in 2015 and prepared for an eventual replacement of the high school.
The old elementary building was demolished to make way for the new La Conner Middle School. The main entry of the school functions as the entrance to both secondary schools. There are still items around the school that hold the history of the original elementary school. The old basketball court floor was salvaged and now hangs on the wall of the cafeteria and can also be found as tables in the library, and the new ‘history wall’ is an eye-catching feature that welcomes visitors to the school.
