SEATTLE — The Seattle School District has taken a step toward building an elementary school downtown, but not without caution.
The federal government is allowing the district to apply to take over the former Federal Reserve bank on Second Avenue for free.
On Wednesday the school board authorized district officials to submit an application and study whether a school there makes sense.
The building housed a Federal Reserve bank from 1950 to 2008 until a new facility was built in Renton.
Renovating it into a school would cost the district around $40 million, similar to the cost of other school construction projects.
But board President Sharon Peaslee said it will not be an easy decision.
"Right now we have much higher priorities, we have schools that are already overcrowded," Peaslee said.
The Downtown Seattle Association is among those pushing for a downtown school.
It estimates 60,000 people live downtown, and that children between 5 and 9 years old are the fastest growing downtown demographic.
School officials will soon ask the public to weigh in on whether the deal is too good to pass up.
If the property does not become a school, the General Services Administration will put the building up for auction.
New step taken toward a downtown Seattle elementary school
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