The City of Port Angeles is disappointed to learn that the North Olympic History Center (NOHC) Board of Directors has declined the City’s most recent offer to purchase the former Lincoln Elementary School.
The City received notice from the NOHC in a letter on June 10. In the letter, the Board cited an inability to relocate its inventory of historical items to an alternative location.
“This is a missed opportunity for our community,” says City Manager Nathan A. West. “We have been working for over a year to propose solutions that would allow the City to acquire the property and save the historic school building. The City’s offer submitted to the North Olympic History Center on June 4 was developed thoughtfully to ensure it benefited both organizations, and we are disappointed that the foresight of historic preservation was not a factor in their decision. For our community to succeed, it is imperative that each organization look beyond its own interests and strive to make decisions that result in lasting benefits for the people we serve.”
City staff have been in discussions with the NOHC since February 2024 in an effort to preserve the building and rehabilitate the site, located at 926 West 8th Street, into multifamily housing. Despite the City’s multiple proposals, the NOHC has not provided the City with an opportunity to purchase the Lincoln School building.
The only formal proposal provided to the City by the NOHC included the sale of the property’s frontage lots for $599,000. Per the proposal, the NOHC would use the proceeds from the purchase to demolish the former school building. The City, who’s priority is to preserve the historical building and focus on redeveloping the site, declined this offer.
Most recently, in June 2025, the City extended its final offer to NOHC which included the City’s acquisition of the entire property located at 926 West 8th Street for $599,000, along with the exchange of City-owned, commercially zoned property located at 935 West 10th Street, valued at $189,000, for the NOHC’s continued operations. The total offer was valued at $788,000 and would have resulted in an estimated net profit to NOHC of $578,000 for property they purchased from the Port Angeles School District at a considerable discount.
The City had hoped that the profit the NOHC gained from this sale would be more than enough to cover not only the relocation costs, but also the expenses for professional services to pack, move, and store the artifacts, documents and works of art that NOHC has collected over the years.
The City of Port Angeles will continue to pursue other projects and partnerships that result in new and much-needed housing development in the community. To learn more about the City’s housing-related programs and incentives, please visit cityofpa.us/housing.
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