Kenmore residents had the chance to voice their opinion on the fate of Saint Edward State Park at a meeting held by Washington State Parks last week.

In response to the Washington State Parks Commission’s Resolution in 2013, which directed state parks staff to explore partnerships with other public and private sector entities to rehabilitate and preserve the building, the city of Kenmore is proposing to play an active role with state parks to ensure a long-term lease to rehabilitate and reuse the building. This would include partnering with Bastyr University and Daniel Real Estate to redevelop the failing and obsolete 90,000 square foot seminary building into college classrooms and living quarters.

The around 300 acres of Saint Edward State Park includes undeveloped Lake Washington waterfront, forest and trails, and will likely remain in the stewardship of the Washington State Parks system. Though the exact parameters for the potential lease area have yet to be determined, it would be proximate to the seminary and adjacent buildings. As is typical for rehabilitation of significant historic structures, some space in the seminary would likely be set aside for public access and interpretive areas, according to a city of Kenmore city spokesperson.

“Saving the historic seminary building in a way that promotes sustainability and environmental values, while enhancing the local economy, is a huge opportunity for the city, and we are ready to be a helpful partner in this effort,” Kenmore mayor David Baker said. “The team that has stepped forward is truly high caliber with strong community ties, as well as national prominence.”

However, public opinion on this decision, seemed to be split.

“Turning the core of Saint Edward State Park into a college campus will change a treasured legacy into a commercial after thought, bland and lost forever,” said Peter Lance, Kenmore resident. “The issues of traffic, purchase money restrictions, and building condition are individually deal killers. Collectively they make the Kenmore/Daniels/Bastyr proposal a fool’s errand.”

Resident Alene Fisher said she doesn’t think traffic will be impacted that greatly from rehabilitating the building to house classrooms and housing for Bastyr University.

“This use should minimize the traffic impact as the students won’t be traveling to and from during rush hour because they will be on campus,” she said. “Yes, the park may get more use but that isn’t a bad thing; the residents who live adjacent and near the park’s need for solitude shouldn’t prevent us from saving a grand old building that could be a jewel in our city’s cap.”

Michael Hankinson, the planner who conducted the meeting at the Northshore Utility District building in Kenmore, said he was alarmed to discover that many residents wanted to demolish the building at their first public input meeting.

“We’ve held a few meetings to get the residents to weigh in on how they felt and many thought it was a problem we should get rid of,” he said. “We at state parks don’t want that fate for this historical building.”

The Association of King County Historical Organizations is in favor of preserving the building.

“One of the main reasons King County is attracting people to live and tourists to visit is its cultural resources,” said Alice Winship, president of the Association of King County Historical Organizations. “It is important that we identify and preserve buildings in a way that keeps them woven into the fabric of the community. Saint Edward’s Seminary is an architecturally significant building with an important historical background.”

At least one Kenmore resident agrees.

“The thought of allowing a beautiful building with such a glorious history to further deteriorate seems highly irresponsible and even to entertain the thought of demolishing all or part of it is, to my way of thinking, utterly indefensible,” Michael Ryan said. “The building is a treasure and it deserves to be treated as a treasure.”

Daniels Real Estate plans on preparing a detailed plan to share with the State Park’s Commissioner next meeting in November. Construction is expected to cost around $30-60 million, according to Kevin Daniels, president at Daniels Real Estate.

“It is too early in our process to be specific on what our plans will be, but based on our preliminary review of the information, we remain convinced that returning the seminary building back to its former use as dorm rooms and class rooms is the best approach to saving the building and this can be achieved at an economical cost,” Daniels said.