ANOTHER HISTORIC BUILDING IN WA BURNS

The following is a remembrance from DAHP staff, Susan Goff, on last night’s fire at the Whatcom Middle School. The school had been undergoing earthquake retrofitting and it was reported that welders were working on the roof as late as 10:30 pm last night. The fire was reported at 1:00 am and by 4:00 am, flames were seen shooting from all parts of the roof. Officials have not yet given a damage estimate to the century-old building, which was originally constructed in 1903.

This morning I learned that Whatcom Middle School in Bellingham was being ravaged by a fire.  Several historic buildings have been unfortunately destroyed within the last few months throughout the state, but this one stuck me very personally.

 

My family lived in the neighborhood from 1916 through 1979 with my father a graduate of Whatcom High School and me a student later when it was known as Whatcom Junior High. Now the block south of Dupont and F Street that was the site of Battersby Field with be joined by the absence of the majestic school building to the north that stood there for over a century with its motto over the main entrance “Waste Not Thy Hour.”