Citizens for Saint Edward State Park

Citizens for Saint Edward State Park Citizens Memorandum: Saint Edward State Park Seminary Building Proposal

December 8, 2016

Citizens for Saint Edward State Park (hereto referred to as “Citizens”) Incorporated in 2006 during the CAMP process with the primary purpose: “Work to ensure any use of the facilities at Saint Edward State Park is secondary and subordinate to the park’s natural environment and its intended use for passive outdoor recreation.” Citizens submitted the successful application that placed the seminary building and park grounds on the National Historic Registry.

COMMUNITY Development is overwhelming the Puget Sound region. Coffee shops, manufacturing, retail, single and multi-family housing, traffic and hotels are ubiquitous making it impossible to escape human progress. An exception is Saint Edward State Park where escaping the chaos of modern commercial life is possible, the primary reason for so many visitors. We are concerned about the proposals to commercialize the abandoned seminary building and develop municipal ballfields in the middle of this serene park.

SEMINARY BUILDING Citizens recognizes the value of the seminary building as a standing monument. The west side of the exterior is visually appealing and unusual in this part of the country. To this end, it is a cultural resource. However, this abandoned school and dormitory does not need to be occupied to fulfill its Catholic heritage cultural mission as a park backdrop, especially with other Seminary heritage features on park grounds.

By touring the building with knowledgeable architects, we learned there is no need for heat in the building to preserve the exterior façade. The building construction is concrete and steel with a brick exterior. Almost all of the brick is in good condition. Draining water from the pipes and treating impounded water in pipes with antifreeze will allow the building to go cold with no damage to the brick visage. To maintain the brick, the gutters and roof must be repaired. (1.Bryan Fryall, 2016)

CITIZENS’ PROPOSAL Heat the first floor of the north wing for use as an Environmental Learning School and an environmentally friendly seasonal café. Turn the grand dining room and kitchen into classrooms and offices for the school, students and faculty. Seal off the main south hallway with an insulated wall and door to manage heat loss. Issues regarding fire, seismic and ADA access will need to be solved. Space would also be available for park staff office/offices and other uses by State Parks. The advantages are:  Abide by the original purpose of the purchase of the land for passive outdoor recreation.

 Abide with the Land and Water Conservation Fund grant that stipulates use of the building be for outdoor recreation.

 Prevent the impact commercialization of the building will have on current users of this popular park when the peaceful outdoor recreation character they treasure changes.  Preserve this as a STATE park by preventing it from becoming a municipal park that primarily benefits the City of Kenmore while it disadvantages the other citizens of Washington State.

FLAWED PROCESS The decision making process to lease the seminary building to Daniels Real Estate Group is flawed. The Park Commission is being lead down a path by a very convincing park planner, a determined businessman, historic building preservationists, in addition to revenue hungry state legislators and City of Kenmore. Michael Hankinson, the state park planner, is more strongly advocating for the Daniels hotel proposal than he is for the citizens of Washington. He has invested undeserved credence into very poor parking and traffic analyses that Daniels and the City of Kenmore submitted for the EIS. Citizens has called attention to the flawed reports during the respective EIS processes. Michael Hankinson should not have accepted these flawed, shallow, and ambiguous reports on behalf of Parks. By understating parking and traffic impacts, the reports are explicitly misleading. Investigating and discovering flawed work should not be the job of Citizens for Saint Edward State Park; this is the responsibility of the park planners. Questions we have:

 Where were park planners when the reports from Fehr & Peers and Heffron were submitted to the City of Kenmore FOR EIS SUBMISSIONS?

 Why did they accept misleading and flawed reports?

 Did they verify and vet the results of these studies or simply accept them at face value?

 How can park planners, in good faith, tell the Park Commissioners this process with Kenmore is accurate, honest and above reproach?

The City of Kenmore is essentially an applicant in this process. Kenmore staff is at liberty to bend every rule and exercise every discretion to advance the hotel before the Park Commission. Daniels was essentially presented to Washington State Parks by the City of Kenmore. State legislators Frockt, Farrell and Pollet, apparently for the benefit of Daniels and the City of Kenmore, pushed through legislation that relaxed leasing rules for only one state park, Saint Edward State Park.

The Park Commission needs a counterweight in this process by utilizing an unbiased consultant or planner who will honestly describe and advocate for a quiet use of the building that has less impact on the culture of the park. This consultant or planner should be allowed the resources and time to put forth arguments that counter those presented by the current planner, Daniels, state legislators and the City of Kenmore. In the end, nothing goes forward without the approval of the Park Commission.

CONCLUSION

All of the building does not have to be heated to preserve it. The brick is in good shape with only some of the façade needing repair. Gutters and roof repair is needed to preserve the brick. The building could be used for education, a purpose more in keeping with the mission of State Parks to provide educational experience that enhance Washingtonians lives. Full occupancy of the building is not needed to drive visitors to Saint Edward State Park, the third most visited park in the system. The Park fulfills the vision as a cherished destination with natural, recreational and interpretative experiences (signs donated by the community). Using the building for education and park purposes is more in keeping with the Seminary as a school than a hotel/conference center will be. We ask that you work with those in the community who are diligently trying to preserve the building while protecting the historical culture of the land, a place of outdoor sanctuary for so many. The impact on current users of the park is being ignored in a rush to fully occupy the building.