Tacoma school expands in aircraft crash zone despite JBLM warnings

The phrase “location, location, location” is an oft repeated slogan in real estate, and surely having property in a potential aircraft crash zone doesn’t quite fit the bill for prospective buyers.

A Tacoma school recently expanded its property in an area that puts the school in what Joint Base Lewis-McChord officials warned was an accident potential zone. Arlington Elementary went ahead with the expansion, despite warnings from JBLM in 2015. And though new land-use regulations would normally prevent such an expansion, this one was seemingly grandfathered in.

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The school was expanded 16,000 square feet and increased capacity from 325 to 450 students in 2017 as the result of a voter-approved $27 million replacement project, reports The News Tribune.

“Rebuilding at the Arlington Elementary School site instead of a site outside the Accident Potential Zone is not advisable,” Army Col. Daniel Morgan wrote in a 2015 letter. “Statistically speaking, the risk of loss of life or injury from an aircraft accident is small. However, if a crash were to occur at the school site, the result would be catastrophic.”

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As the school noted, however, Arlington Elementary School was originally constructed in 1919, years prior to JBLM’s military presence, and it was simply not feasible for them relocate as the JBLM warnings suggested, due to finances, the history of the school, and its proximity to students.

The school district plans to notify families at the start of the school year, though because of the finished upgrades, there are no plans to move the school anytime soon.

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