Commission denies demolition request for East Middle School

The Leavenworth Preservation Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to deny a church’s request for a permit to demolish the old East Middle School building.

Officials with the First United Methodist Church now have the option of appealing the matter to the Leavenworth City Commission.

Church officials are seeking to tear down the old school located at 400 Chestnut St. in order to expand the neighboring First United Methodist Church building. The church has owned the former school building since 2000. The school building was sold to the church as Leavenworth public school district officials prepared to open the Richard W. Warren Middle School.

The East Middle School building, which opened in 1933 as a high school, is currently unoccupied.

Chris Dunn, the city’s planning and community development director, said the former school building is not on a national, state or local register for historic landmarks. But it is considered to be within the environs of three buildings that are — the Leavenworth County Courthouse, the Carnegie Arts Center and the First Presbyterian Church.

He said the Leavenworth Preservation Commission was asked to consider the request of the First United Methodist Church based on how the demolition of the former school building would impact the environs of the historic structures.
Dunn said city staff recommended disapproval of the permit request because the environs would be irreversibly impacted.

Randy Herrman, who represented the First United Methodist Church’s building committee, as well as the Rev. Kevin Hopkins, a pastor at the church, addressed the commission.

Herrman said a lot of study, time, thought and prayer had gone into the matter.

Kevin Schluckebier from BCDM Architects reviewed preliminary plans for expanding the First United Church facility into the area that is currently occupied by the East Middle School building.

He said the church needs about an additional $18,000 square feet. But the old school building has four times that amount of space.

He said this is a lot of building for a non-profit organization to handle and bring up to code.

“The church desires to stay in this neighborhood,” he said.

Schluckebier said historic preservation guidelines would be followed when adding onto the First United Methodist Church building, which opened in 1912.

Davis Moulden, a downtown business owner who serves on the Leavenworth City Commission, called the old East Middle School structure one of the better built buildings in town. Moulden said he attended high school there.

“It’s probably something that needs to happen,” he said of the demolition. “You can’t stand in the way of progress.”

Debra Bates-Lamborn, a downtown business owner, said it would be a “crime to this community” to tear down the old school. She also expressed concern about surrounding historic buildings being damaged during the demolition process.

Bobbie Bower, a member of the Kansas Preservation Alliance, asked First United Methodist Church officials to work with the Carnegie Arts Center, the First Presbyterian Church and others to think about options.

Dale Nimz, the executive director of the Kansas Preservation Alliance, said there are more creative solutions than what he’d heard presented.

“This is a highly significant building,” he said.

The seven members of the Leavenworth Preservation Commission took turns to discuss their feelings on the issue before their vote.

One of the member’s, Edward Otto, expressed concern that nothing had been done to the old school building since it was purchased by the church.

Another member, Jane Gies, said she has seen how other buildings can be reused and reworked to still serve a community.