After more than a year of negotiations and many years of uncertainty, the Small Faces Child Development Center Board of Directors has placed before the Seattle School Board a purchase offer that will decide the future of the former Crown Hill Elementary School.

The former Crown Hill Elementary School building is one of several surplus properties being sold by the Seattle School District. Built in 1919 and expanded in 1949, the building always served as an important community resource.

No longer needed as an elementary school, the building served as home to a nationally accredited childcare facility for the past three decades, with more recent additions of ARC School of Ballet, several small arts non-profits, as well as to the Crown Hill Neighborhood Association and Crown Hill Business Association.

The Small Faces Board worked closely with its tenants, Crown Hill Neighborhood Association, local business, Crown Hill Business Association, and the City of Seattle to ensure that the school and property continue to provide vital and sustainable community services and arts programs, not just to Crown Hill but to the greater Seattle area.

At its recent September board meeting the Small Faces Board of Directors voted to finalize a purchase offer scheduled go to the executive level of the Seattle School District on Sept. 10 and in front of the full board on Sept. 17.

A district vote is expected on Oct. 1.

For information on Small Faces please contact Lynn B. Wirta, Executive Director, 782-2611. For more information about the former Crown Hill Elementary, or details on the agreement and plans, please contact

Catherine.Weatbrook@gmail.com.