Pierce County school district buys 20 acres for $6.2 million. What are their plans?
The possibilities are “endless” for a piece of land the Peninsula School District recently bought for $6.2 million next to their oldest high school, district officials say.
District spokespeople were reluctant to share specific visions for the 20.42 acres in Purdy that district purchased on Nov. 22, but acknowledged that the district’s high school facilities are outdated. The purchased site is just east of Peninsula High School.
What happens to the land is a question being discussed by the district’s Long Range Facilities Advisory Board, which the school board established in February through a resolution.
“We do not have a specific project or anything specifically planned for that property right now,” district spokesperson Danielle Chastaine said in a phone call Nov. 26. “. . . (There’s an) endless list of things we could possibly use the land for.”
The district paid for the land with money earned on interest from a bond the district passed in 2019, according to Chastaine. That bond was for $198.55 million and paid for the construction of two new elementary schools and upgrades to four existing schools, The News Tribune reported.
“We didn’t use any of the actual bond money” for the new land purchase, Chastaine said.
The district acquired a block of land east of Peninsula High School, across 62nd Avenue Northwest, plus a 0.36-acre rectangular parcel just southwest of the high school, totaling 20.42 acres, according to the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer.
Aerial views of the purchased land show that much of it is forested.
What are possible uses for the land?
The land was desirable for its proximity to existing district facilities: Peninsula High School, Purdy Elementary, Roy Anderson Stadium and the district offices, including the transportation department and maintenance warehouses, school board president Natalie Wimberley told The News Tribune via email Nov. 27. It also presented a rare opportunity to acquire a large parcel of land in that area of the peninsula, which she said is growing rapidly.
The district made a similar decision when it bought the land where Swift Water Elementary is located, according to Wimberley. The district bought that land in 2013, allowing them to build Swift Water “without additional taxes or delays” after the 2019 bond passed, she wrote. Swift Water Elementary opened in 2021, according to the district’s Facebook page.
“While there are no immediate plans for the property, the district has convened a long-range facilities planning committee to comprehensively evaluate the needs of all our schools and guide future development,” she added.
Residents in the district applied to join the Long Range Facilities Advisory Board earlier this year. District Superintendent Krestin Bahr selected the committee members from those applications and the school board approved them, as directed by the school board resolution passed Feb. 27. Applications were due March 31.
The committee’s purpose is to conduct research and make recommendations to the board to address the district’s facility needs. They must meet for two years, at which point the school board can vote to renew or dissolve the committee. They must make at least one report to the school board and superintendent.
School board vice president Jennifer Butler is the school board representative to the committee. She told The News Tribune that the committee is researching the conditions of facilities across the district, but focusing on their two aging high schools: Peninsula High School, which opened in 1947, and Gig Harbor High School, which opened in 1979, according to Tacoma Public Library records.
Some of the district’s older buildings have heating systems that are past their serviceable life, with maintenance staff keeping them running. Their facilities director has had to go on eBay to find parts that are no longer made, she said. The committee is also reviewing the condition of buildings’ roofs, ventilation systems and plumbing.
They’re also assessing the “programmatic needs” of their high schools. When these schools first opened, students weren’t taking the same kinds of classes they are now, she added.
Several career and technical education programs were on display at the district’s recent Focus on Education Innovation event Dec. 4. Students operated robots, showcased cybersecurity solutions and worked virtual reality equipment. The event also showcased the district’s planned Aviation Academy, set to enroll 30 students in the 2025-2026 school year interested in careers in piloting, aerospace engineering, traffic control and more.
The event highlighted the many programs that don’t fit in a traditional classroom with “desks in a row, looking forward at a white board . . . (but) basically all of our older schools were built with a sort of standard classroom model,” Butler said. “Teacher at the front, kids in desks looking forward.”
The committee is going to present a report to the school board by the end of the academic year, but she said she couldn’t speak to when that will translate to a concrete plan for the land in Purdy.
Asked if the property could be used as the site of a third high school, Butler said she doesn’t see that happening, because the district’s enrollment numbers seem stable at the high school level. But “it doesn’t rule out other things that would support secondary students,” she said.
Asked if a new stadium could be built there, she said the district would like “all options on the table.” The committee’s research includes reviewing the district’s athletic facilities, she said.
The purchase agreement
Purchase agreement documents indicate the district paid $6.24 million to Purdy Interchange, LLC for the land. The LLC is affiliated with The Rush Companies, a major real-estate and development firm headquartered in Gig Harbor, according to business records held by the Washington Secretary of State.
Originally, the district planned to also purchase an additional 4.89-acre parcel that forms a strip starting just below the 0.36-acre parcel and running horizontally south of Peninsula High School. The school board amended the purchase and sale agreement on Nov. 12 to put that purchase on hold, planning to buy it for $260,000 in a “Phase II” of the transaction, with a closing date of March 31, 2025 at the latest, according to the amendment.
The district is delaying their purchase of the 4.89-acre parcel in part because an “unrelated third party cleared and bulldozed a path/roadway through some areas of the Phase II Property . . . and cut trees without obtaining permits or approvals,” the amendment document said.
They will buy the 4.89-acre parcel upon the fulfillment of several conditions, according to the amendment document. Including if:
- the water from the well on the property is determined to be free from contaminants and potable
- the seller enters into an easement agreement with a neighboring property owner who uses the well, stating that the owner can continue to use the well water but releasing the Phase II property owner from the obligation to maintain it in the future
- the seller removes all personal property items “including, but not limited to, any vehicles, containers of chemicals, and the burned-out car and car battery,” with no environmental contamination remaining from these items
- the district does not have to complete or pay for any further work to address the unpermitted clearing, bulldozing and tree-cutting done on the parcel by the third party
If any conditions aren’t met by the closing date, the district may choose to waive them or get the money they’ve already paid toward the purchase returned to them.
The Pierce County Council rezoned the eight parcels purchased by the district as “public institution” land at their Dec. 3 meeting, according to Pierce County Council member Robyn Denson.
“In general, the PI zone allows civic uses like schools, government, community services, health services, as well as utility facilities,” Denson wrote via email Dec. 6. “The things related to their purpose they could do include, for example, K-12 schools, career/technical/vocational programs, educational extension facilities, general admin offices.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated when Peninsula High School and Gig Harbor High School opened. Peninsula High School opened in 1947 and Gig Harbor High School opened in 1979.
This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 11:47 AM.
