Building Momentum for MLK

Spring is definitely here. I'm amazed at how our grassroots effort to preserve Martin Luther King Elementary as a community arts-idea center continues to blossom.

We'll be presenting a brief update on our progress at the next meeting of the Greater Madison Valley Community Council on Wed. April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bush School common room. Please join us!

Some new developments:

• The Department of Neighborhoods and the School District have started a School Use Advisory Committee process for MLK. This means a committee, including neighborhood representatives, will begin a several-month process of public meetings to gain input on what the community wants in any future use of MLK.

• An official at the school district indicated to us that the District will not move to sell or lease the MLK property to any entity until this SUAC process is complete.

• This means we've been granted time to organize, to make our voices heard and to decide what we as community want in in a gathering/creative/learning/arts space at MLK. To find out how you can help or to get updates on our progress e-mail me here.
  

• Our working group has begun to schedule meetings with School Board members and city council members to build support for a community arts center at MLK. City Councilman Richard Conlin is working to secure funds for a feasibility study. We've also met with the architecture firm responsible for the fantastic renovation of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, a former public school in West Seattle--and received great encouragement and advice.
  

Thanks to all who are helping make this vision of a true community space at MLK a reality!

A Vision for MLK School

Members of the Madison Valley Neighborhood have formed a working group to transform Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, which closed in 2007, into a vibrant lifelong learning and arts center. We've crafted a vision statement, which we're circulating to the Seattle School Board and district:

M.L. King Community Arts and Ideas Center March 28, 2008

Keeping the Dream Alive

For nearly 100 years, Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School has been a focal point of the Madison Valley neighborhood—opening first as Harrison School in 1913, and in 1974 renamed for Martin Luther King, Jr. It has provided education and community pride to generations of Madison Valley residents. In 2007, the Seattle School District closed the school; this year the School Board declared the property surplus. In response, a community group has formed to plan and create a community space at MLK. We have begun the hard work of soliciting broad community input, building a nonprofit, recruiting allies, securing funding and enlisting partners.

Our vision is taking shape. We believe that the former school property should remain a true public space that serves the immediate neighborhood and the larger community. As a model, we look to Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in West Seattle as an inspiration, but not necessarily a blueprint. We see MLK as a place where people of all ages, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds could come to meet, to learn and to create. We envision MLK as a community anchor for lifelong learning and creativity.

A place where book groups meet or children make art or record music after school. Where hip-hop dance performances take place alongside children’s theater. Where events are free or affordable to the community. Where community and arts organizations can rent affordable space, conduct meetings and offer important services. Serving youth is integral to this vision, whether providing youth art classes, after school programs, teen activities, or supporting the work of existing youth-centered organizations.

A community arts and idea center at MLK Elementary could include:

• Community meeting rooms and classrooms;
• Children and teen spaces: media center, sports and arts facilities, playground;
• A multi-purpose theater-performance-meeting space;
• Affordable offices for nonprofit and community groups; and
• Additional creative facilities (e.g., recording studio, dance studio, pottery kiln, etc.).

We are in the process of investigating the feasibility of these and other ideas, and meeting with possible partners who can provide guidance, programming and operations well into the future. We are consulting regularly with Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. We are working with architects to explore whether it is practical to renovate the existing building or to consider a long-term vision for a new building that is modest, practical, energy-efficient and cost-effective.

At this point, what we need is time. We are preparing a formal letter of intent to the School Board to establish a community center at MLK. But we are concerned that the District, in the interest of getting market value for its property, will move quickly to sell or lease MLK Elementary School to a private entity. Our interest is to move quickly, but we ask for time to organize, create a formal proposal and pursue viable funding options. Neither the community nor the District wants to see the building sit vacant.

Our next steps involve setting up a community nonprofit, getting input from both the immediate neighborhood and broader community about what it wants in a community arts/idea center, and meeting with potential funding sources, experts, arts organizations, and partners. Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin and Washington State Representative Eric Pettigrew (D-37) have taken a serious interest in this proposal and have indicated an interest in assisting with several potential funding sources.

We believe our vision best meets the District’s requirement that redeveloped former schools serve youth and families. As a lifelong learning and creative space, this center would keep Dr. King’s dream alive. It would be a place where we can, as King once said, “transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.”

MLK Community Center Working Group

Making Progress!

The vision of turning the closed Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School into a true community space is taking shape! I was encouraged to see so many engaged community members at the forum in March to discuss the future of MLK. Since that meeting, we've continued to build a grass-roots movement to keep the former school a community space.

We've formed a working group of 12 dedicated community members, and we've met to organize our efforts and start the difficult and exciting work of keeping Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision alive, in a center that promotes lifelong learning, the arts, and bringing people together across divides.

We were thankful to have School Board Member Mary Bass, State Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D-37) and Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin at the forum. Councilman Conlin is closely following our efforts and is actively seeking funds for an feasibility study. The School District and Department of Neighborhoods are getting the ball rolling to start a public input process to learn what the community wants in the former elementary school. Our working group is actively seeking meetings with potential partners, and all members of the Seattle School Board.

If you'd like to help us or want to share what you'd like to see in a community center at MLK, please e-mail me.

What will an MLK community arts/idea center look like?

We don't know the specifics, and that's the exciting part: the Madison Valley Community and the greater neighborhood can actively shape what it would like to see in a community space. Our working group has crafted a one-page vision statement which can be found here.

What can you do to help? You can e-mail School Board Member Mary Bass and tell her you support the Madison Valley community's efforts to create a community arts/lifelong learning center at MLK. Or attend the next meeting of the Greater Madison Valley Community Council on April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bush School Community Room on E. Harrsion and 34th. We'll have a brief update on our efforts at the GMVCC meeting.

Let's keep King's vision alive with a true gathering place!