Many “Band-Aids” have been applied to shore up Camp Waskowitz, the Highline Public Schools’ outdoor environmental education facility, since it was built in 1935.

“But now it’s time for major surgery” on the old camp structures, according to its director.

Roberta McFarland noted that when the district bought the camp near North Bend in 1957, volunteers nailed donated shingles to the dining hall roof and “did what they could to spruce it up.”

However, concrete was never poured between the building’s walls and the ground. Severe dry rot has set in, she reported.

Rehabilitation of the historic dining hall as well as replacement of the kitchen and a wooden water tower are among $3.3 million in camp improvements that would be funded if a $148 million bond measure is approved by voters March 14.

The bond would also provide $124.2 million to replace four elementaries, $2 million in secondary-school security improvements, $9 million in technology upgrades and $9.5 million for roofing and emergency repairs.

Shorewood in Burien and Midway in Des Moines would be rebuilt with a scheduled reopening in September 2008. Construction of Parkside in Des Moines and Marvista in Normandy Park would be set to finish in September 2009.

A fifth elementary, SeaTac’s McMicken Heights, would be rebuilt when state matching funds are available.

A 60 percent yes vote is needed to pass the bond. According to King County Elections, the Highline district contains 57,633 registered voters with 33,496 registered as absentee voters. The absentee ballots were mailed last week.

If the bond passes, district officials estimate taxpayers will pay an additional 10 cents for each $1,000 of assessed home value per year for four years -- about $30 a year for a $300,000 home.

The assessment rate would be lower in subsequent years, they said.

The bond tax rate would increase to $1.83 per $1,000 of assessed value for the first four years before going down to about $1.74 per $1,000.

Camp Waskowitz was built during the Great Depression of the 1930s as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. In 1997, it was listed as a national historic site, Last year, the Washington Trust for Historic Places named it as one of the state’s most endangered historic places.

In renovating the dining hall, the district must follow preservation guidelines, according to McFarland.

“We have to take care to keep the look of 1935, but make sure it’s safe in earthquakes and heavy snow,” McFarland noted.

The kitchen, with its uneven slanted floors, still has ovens that are World War II-era surplus, she added.

The redwood water tank, which stores water for camp use and possible fire suppression, has leaked badly for at least the nine years McFarland has been director.

Experts have not offered a permanent solution other than replacing it.

Camp Waskowitz offers the Highline district a “common community experience,” McFarland noted.

Many district kids have parents and grandparents who attended the camp as Highline students, and they share their fond memories, according to McFarland.

“They say things like, ‘I was in Cabin B2, is it still there?’ and ask a lot of ‘Do you still do?’ questions. The answer is ‘Yes’ to a lot of the questions.”

District sixth-graders spend five days during the school year living at the camp and studying the environment.

Students from different district schools live together and find out they have much in common, according to McFarland.

“Kids are kids and they find they are all part of an important community,” McFarland observed. “It doesn't matter whether they come from White Center or Marvista (School in Normandy Park).”

In a May 31, 2000, Times/News article, McFarland noted that for some sixth-graders, attending the camp is their first overnight experience away from their parents.

“Some kids arrive very homesick but after their first night they are doing okay,” she said. “They still miss their parents but by Friday they are crying because they don’t want to leave.

“This is the first cutting of the apron strings and it’s kind of neat that they have an opportunity to mature in a safe environment with a curriculum that is so rich.”

McFarland also noted in the 2000 article that high schoolers, who act as camp counselors, are often average students. The school leaders and academic performers are usually too busy.

But, the average students sometimes benefit more from the experience than their more successful peers would have, she added.

“One high school senior said that after spending a week at Waskowitz, he found resources within himself that he didn’t think he would have to use so soon, but now he knew he could succeed.

“He got positive recognition from sixth graders and their teachers that the regular high school did not give him.”