Utah Heritage Foundation

Utah Heritage Foundation commends The Spectrum for its editorial on July 18, 2011 urging that school buildings be more energy efficient.  But why stop there.  The National Trust for Historic Preservation has been pointing out for years that the greenest buildings are often those that are already built. 

In a planning meeting for the re-use of Denver’s Emerson School, consultant Jim Dinola, a principal with Green Building Services in Portland, Oregon noted that the energy efficiency of older schools can be improved by doing some of the simple things homeowners do to make old houses more efficient.  These include insulating the attic, tightening windows and doors to eliminate leaks, and making thermostats operable (so that rooms are not heated to 85 degrees while sitting empty overnight, for example). Other energy savings will require more substantial investment, such as the overhaul of the school’s heating and cooling systems.  These retrofits often compare favorably with the cost of new construction.

Older schools in established neighborhoods like East Elementary in St. George, Utah (photo courtesy Washington County Historical Society) can usually be reached safely by pedestrians, reducing traffic and pollution from vehicles.  A recent Preservation Nation blog gave a way to measure the walkability of schools and their neighborhoods using the Active School Neighborhood Checklist (ASNC).  The checklist was born out of the federal Safe Routes To School program. The goal of SRTS is to make it safer and easier for children to walk and bicycle to school. 

When a school is closed, a huge hole is often left in its place. This measurement tool (ASNC) gives us another way to judge whether or not a school should be closed; another way to ask the question: “Would building that new school out in the ‘burbs really solve all of our problems? Or would it just cause new problems?”  What are the important trade-offs in building a new school vs. remodeling the current school? 

The 1954 Hurricane Elementary School was slated for demolition to build a new community center when Washington County School District moved the students and staff to a new building.  When members of the community came up with a better idea to use the old school as a key feature of the new community center, the city agreed.  They stopped saying “We can’t do it,” and started asking, “If we had to do it, how would we do it?”  West Elementary in St. George was not so lucky.  It was demolished for the new district court building (photo courtesy Washington County Historical Society).

Old schools are not always – in fact, not often – obsolete.  They are mostly under-appreciated and misunderstood.  When old schools are threatened with closure and demolition, let’s ask the right questions before offering answers.

Read more about Community Centered Schools

Take a tour of the Ogden High School rehab

See what was done to rehab the Oquirrh School