Following historical guidelines

Several members of Cheney's Historic Preservation Commission got the chance to check on the progress of renovation work at the Fisher Building. The building, which served the Cheney School District as its first high school and finished as the administration building before being sold to the Eastmark Corporation of Seattle last November, is being transformed into apartments for Eastern Washington University students.

The renovation work is taking place under the guidelines of historical preservation, meaning as much of the existing materials must be used or reused, and if new material is brought in, it must be as historically accurate as possible. Last fall, the Cheney commission approved adding the Fisher Building to the local historic registry, protecting it and enabling Eastmark to pursue registry with the state's Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation and the National Parks Service in order to apply for tax credits for the work.

While many changes have taken place to the interior of the building, project architect Lori Noto said they have been operating under a central principle.

"If we didn't have to move it, we didn't touch it," she told the commission tour group last Wednesday.

Part of the central gymnasium is being framed out as apartments, but the northern half, which includes the existing basketball hoop, is being retained. Wood from the floor and wainscoting from the walls and balcony that is removed for the apartment spaces is being reused as much as possible elsewhere.

A lot of the more difficult work has been installation of plumbing. A portable added to the building's southern exterior has been removed.

Other interior additions include an elevator just inside of the building's new College Avenue entrance, one of the few exterior modifications the Park Service has allowed. The apartments, which will be one, two and three bedroom, include loft sleeping arrangements and a common area.

Most of the building's third-floor auditorium will be used for apartments, but a portion of the seating, along with the original seats and the original 1929 stage, will remain. Noto said they intend to make this a student recreation area, complete with several large screens for movies and sporting events.

Railings around the remaining gym will be reinforced for safety, and walls will be reinforced and integrated in order to be stabilized for earthquake protection, which the previous design did not accomplish.

In many other parts of the interior, original features are being retained, such as lockers on the second floor, which will be sealed, existing doors and windows.

Noto said the two existing entrances on the east side will have new concrete steps poured, about the only other exterior modification being considered, as well as glass interior inner doors as per code. She also said that remarkably little asbestos was found in the building, likely attributed to its construction before the hazardous material become more widely used.

Eastmark is shooting for a completion date in early August, Noto said, enabling EWU students to move in before fall quarter. They are hoping to hold an open house about that time for the public to view the finished work.

"Our biggest challenge will be in not screwing this up," Noto said.

The Cheney school board also toured the Fisher Building later Wednesday afternoon.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].