Ingraham High School
Letter from Eric Jaeger to Seattle Times
Dear Mr. Broom,
I read with concern your article in the Seattle Times dated
March 22, 2008. I have been sitting on the design committee for
over nine months and as written your article contains many
misleading statements and incorrect facts. There appears to have
been no attempt to check the facts and statements provided by Mr.
Zemke, Ms. Leonard, and Ms. Wong before printing the story.
The design committee was formed approximately 9 months ago and
is made up of school staff, community members (which I am one) and
design experts. Contrary to Mr. Zemke, Ms. Leonard, and Ms. Wong
there has been significant community input. The issue of saving as
many trees as possible was discussed early on and given high
priority in the design considerations. Part of the reason for
placing the addition at the west end of the school was to take
advantage of the existing trees to shade the building thereby
reducing the solar gain on the building which will reduce the
utility costs for the lifespan of the building. In addition,
meeting the educational and safety need of the students, good
stewardship of tax dollars by maximizing the class room space for
the dollars spent, reducing the foot print of the building on the
lot to reduce surface water run-off, taking advantage of the
topography of the site to reduce the excavation needed for
construction, placing the addition so that the safety of the
students and staff can be maintained during construction were also
identified as high priorities. These and many other design
considerations were taken into account and are reflected in the
decision to site the addition on the west end of the property.
As currently shown on the drawings, there will be slightly more
than 2.5 trees planted for every tree removed. Mr. Zemke requested
and received a one on one meeting to discuss the tree issue. As the
result of that meeting, 43 additional evergreen trees were added to
the design which brings the number of trees being planted to almost
2.7 for every tree removed. The drawings are in the process of
being revised to show these additional trees. Contrary to Ms. Wong
and Ms. Leonard, the addition of the street trees and the planting
of evergreens to infill the stand of trees at the west end of the
site will continue to provide the screening they desire.
The picture printed on page B2 is captioned incorrectly. The
trees were not removed as part of any renovation project. They were
dead madrona trees that were in danger of falling over and were a
safety hazard. A simple phone call to the school office can confirm
this and should have been done prior to running the story.
Mr. Zemke has repeatedly brought up the parking spaces that are
being created. It has been explained to him several times that the
parking requirement is completely out of the control of Seattle
Public Schools. The creation of parking spaces both on street and
on site are being mandated by the City of Seattle. The current lot
used for student parking at the east end of the school belongs to
Seattle Parks. The school district has an agreement with the parks
department that allows the use of this lot during school hours.
This agreement can be terminated at any time by either party and
therein lies the problem. The City of Seattle will not allow those
parking spots to be counted toward the required number needed for
the school as there is no permanent use of this lot guaranteed. The
parks department is unwilling to give up potential future use of
the land to the school district so there is no choice but to bring
the parking onto school district property. This however creates a
great opportunity to design and build a parking area where the
management of the surface water runoff will be handled on site
rather that sending it directly and untreated into Haller Lake.
Plantings have been included to reduce the heat gain from un-shaded
pavement. Ingraham High School will be significantly greener upon
the completion of this project.
My experience on the design committee has been very positive. I
have enjoyed working closely with the other members of the
committee who I have found to be extremely thoughtful and
intelligent. People who have great respect for the environment and
who have worked hard to reduce the impact to the neighborhood while
providing the best possible facility for the students of Seattle
Public Schools. I encourage you spend some time confirming the
information above and to consider writing another article for the
Times that presents a more balanced view of the improvements to
Ingraham High School.
Sincerely,
Eric J. Jaeger
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