Garfield High School has always been a Seattle landmark to the Central District Community, and to all who have appreciated its charm. That status is now official, however, following a vote by the City of Seattleʼs Landmarks Preservation Board on August 5, 2003.

Garfield was nominated early in the summer by the Seattle School District as a part of the schoolʼs redesign process. The nomination was a proactive step to get the landmark status of the school decided before architectural planning for the much awaited Garfield renovation began. After testimony regarding both the cultural and architectural history of Garfield, the board voted to designate certain parts of the school as features to be preserved.

The exteriors of the original 1923 building and the two-story 1929 southern addition are to be preserved. In the interior of the school, the main entrance hall and the four interior bay stair towers at the north and middle of the school must be incorporated into the new design. The upper gym, the former art room (now room 312), and the former library (now the counseling office) have also been designated. Elements of these areas that helped elevate them to landmark status include the elaborate terra-cotta detailing of the exterior and the ornamental plaster of the interior. Also, the master clock, now in the main office, and the 1937 murals in room 310 will be preserved.

With the landmark features of Garfield decided, the Garfield School Design Team can continue with the redesign process. The team has been meeting since early March, and is composed of teachers, parents, community members, students, and architects from the firm Burr Lawrence Rising and Bates Architects. They have looked at other schools in the area and have identified key student needs, including natural light and common space.

Over the summer, members of the design team split into groups to brainstorm on possible features of the new Garfield and the arrangement of classrooms. On September 11 a footprint, or basic plan, was released. The footprint is a conceptual design that serves mainly to visually represent possible features such as the locations of rooms and subjects in relation to each other. Architects will next work to incorporate the footprint with the landmark features of Garfield.

“This isnʼt the final draft,” said team member Sonya Scharf, “but it contains the ideas of all the groups that worked on it.”

A main factor that the design team took into account when developing the footprint was the proposed formation of a personalized learning environment system, such as an academy or house system. Under this system, certain groups of classrooms would be bunched together as a sort of school within a school, possibly with a learning focus such as science or art.

“Weʼre trying to keep it flexible,” said art teacher Bonnie Hungate-Hawk, a member of the design team. “The arrangement of the classrooms affects the educational needs for the next eighty years.”

In planning out the new structure of the school, the areas to be preserved must be taken into account. For these areas, only slight changes can be made. For example, the plaster work can be peeled off the walls it is currently on and be put onto new walls.

“You have to preserve it in spirit,” said teacher Kjell Rye. “You can take out old windows and put in new windows, but they have to make them look like the old ones.”

The architects will work on preliminary plans and take them back to the design team by February 2004.