Cascade Middle School

Rebuilding at the Salmon Creek Site

Cost:  $172.1 million
Location: 614 SW 120th Street

• Estimated cost to rebuild at the Salmon Creek site is $172.1 million.
• Located four blocks from the current Cascade campus.
• Lower cost (about $44 million less than rebuilding on site), allowing investment in additional district capital priorities.
• More available space for design, including room for a practice playfield.
• Allows students to remain at Cascade during construction rather than relocating for up to two years.

Rebuilding at the Current Site

Cost: $216.4 million
Location: 11212 10th Avenue SW

• Estimated cost to rebuild at the current site is $216.4 million.
• The site has significant constraints, including limited buildable area due to current permitting requirements.
• A smaller footprint would require a taller (likely four‑story), more expensive building with less design flexibility.
• Rebuilding on the site is technically feasible but challenging due to underground sewer easements, wetland setbacks, and proximity to the park and Evergreen athletic field.

Rebuilding at Salmon Creek is about $44 million less expensive. Lower costs help maximize the use of public funds and allow investment in additional Highline schools. This approach reflects a fiscally responsible use of public funds. 

At the current Cascade site, several physical conditions make construction significantly more difficult and more expensive: 

• Wetland buffers and a major sewer easement reduce the portion of the site where a building can actually be placed. That means architects have less flexibility and a much smaller footprint to work with from the start. 
• Because the usable footprint is smaller, the school could not spread out in a more efficient layout. Instead, it would likely need to be built upward, with a four-story building anticipated. Taller buildings cost more to construct and add complexity to the overall design. 
• Because the sewer easement cuts through the site, the school would likely need to be split into two buildings connected by a pedestrian bridge. That adds cost in both structure and design, and with a tight building footprint, it creates a less efficient layout for students and staff. 
• More difficult construction access and staging is a major factor to the cost. On a constrained site, there is less room for construction crews, equipment, material storage, deliveries and safe work zones. That can slow the pace of construction, require more careful sequencing, and increase labor and logistics costs. In other words, it is simply harder and more expensive to build when workers have limited space to operate. 

• Limited buildable space also makes it harder to design parking, student drop-off, bus loading, playfields and pedestrian circulation in a safe and functional way. Fitting all of that into a constrained site requires more intensive design solutions and can add cost. 

Rebuilding at the current site would also require Cascade to wait for the district's only interim site, which is also needed for Sylvester and Chinook. That could delay Cascade by several years. Delaying projects increase construction costs and raise the total project cost. 

Taken together, these are not minor issues. They are major site constraints that directly affect what can be built, how it can be built, how long it takes, and how much it costs. 

• Cascade has been described as a more than 40-acre site, but that includes the broader Cascade/Evergreen campus. 

• The actual buildable area for a new Cascade is much smaller — about 6.15 acres before additional constraints. The Salmon Creek site is slightly bigger, with an overall size of 6.65 acres but offers a more usable and flexible layout for school design.  
• The track and field at Evergreen are part of Evergreen High School’s campus, not Cascade’s.  
• Salmon Creek’s size and layout allow a practice playfield to be built for Cascade that would be their own. 

Washington state guidance provides recommended acreage for school sites, but it also recognizes that many school sites are smaller than recommended. When a site is smaller, districts must show that student safety, educational programming, parking, recreation and other site needs can be addressed through design.

Both the current Cascade site and the Salmon Creek site are smaller than the state’s recommended acreage for a middle school. What matters most in this comparison is usable space. The current Cascade site has about 6.15 acres available before additional constraints, such as utility easements. The Salmon Creek site is about 6.65 acres before setbacks are applied and offers a more flexible layout for school design.

Many schools in Highline and across the region operate successfully on sites smaller than the acreage suggested in state guidance. Examples include Sylvester Middle School, Chinook Middle School and the current Cascade Middle School campus, as well as several Seattle Public Schools middle and high school campuses.

•  
• Some nearby community members have raised concerns about traffic and neighborhood impacts at the Salmon Creek site.
• If the project moves forward, comprehensive traffic and infrastructure studies will be required as part of the city permitting process.
• Community input will continue to inform next steps.
• District leadership has met with the City of Burien, which has expressed support and a willingness to work together to address concerns.
•