Bellingham breaks ground on the rebuilds of two elementary schools
Bellingham Public Schools recently broke ground virtually on the rebuilds of two schools and hopes to have both completed and ready to open their doors to students in the fall of 2021.
Funded by the 2018 school bond, Alderwood and Parkview elementary schools will both be rebuilt. Sunnyland Elementary also received funds for a rebuild with the bond, but that project is not scheduled to be completed until August of 2022, according to the district’s capital projects website.
The Alderwood project broke ground earlier this month, according to a news release from Dykeman Architects in Everett, which designed the school rebuild.
“We are incredibly excited about this opportunity to work with the Bellingham School District and the Alderwood community,” Associate Principal at Dykeman Zach Ham said in the release. “Alderwood is ready for a new school that supports the Bellingham Promise and we are honored to be a part of the revitalization efforts. We look forward to seeing the excitement a new school brings and its impacts on the neighborhood.”
Once completed, the new two-story Alderwood will be 64,200 square feet — 52.9% larger than the old 42,000 square foot Alderwood — with room for up to 450 students, according to the release.
The design of the new Alderwood was inspired by the surrounding natural environment and its rich relationship with the community, the release stated.
In addition to classrooms, the release said the new school will include an administration office, a library, a full-sized gymnasium, cafeteria/commons area, a kitchen and a covered play area. Outdoor amenities will include separate bus and parent drop off, play fields, walking paths, hard/soft outdoor play areas, and parking.
The new Parkview also broke ground over the summer, district spokesperson Dana Smith told The Bellingham Herald in a release, as the two schools “were planned pretty parallel and started about the same time and are both scheduled to be completed by fall 2021.”
New Parkview is being designed by Bellingham-based Zervas Architects, which has design credits that include projects at Bellingham International Airport, Lynden City Hall and the WTA Cordata and Downtown stations, Fairhaven Tower as well as a number of Whatcom County schools, including Wade King Elementary and Shuksan and Kulshan middle schools in Bellingham.
