VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Washington State School for the Deaf in Vancouver is older than the state itself. Originally opening in 1886, three years before Washington gained statehood, it is the only state-funded school for the deaf in the state. Since its founding, it has undergone changes and renovations, but for years has been lacking the necessary features that its students would benefit most from.
"The old Divine building felt very small, old," said Kasey Lewandowski, a junior and vice president of the student body. "It needed updates. It felt very cramped; it was not very deaf friendly and accessible. So, there were a lot of frustrations with that building for a long time."
Construction on the renovations and new buildings on campus broke ground in June 2023, the state pouring in $52.8 million to upgrade the outdated school. For two decades, the school has been trying to get funding from the state to build new buildings and update the school to meet the needs of the community it serves.
"It's emotional because this is something that we have been pursuing for so long and have wanted for so long and needed for so long," said Shauna Bilyeu, the school's superintendent. Bilyeu is also the executive director for the Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth.
The building and renovations fall under a design called 'Deaf Space', which is built on five principles: space and proximity, mobility and proximity, acoustics, sensory reach and light and color. The school contracted work with Skanska in Portland and Mithun in Seattle to build and design the school's new features and buildings. The new design lets in more light, makes it feel more open and more accessible to those that learn here.
A new 15,000-square-foot gym sits in the heart of the campus, closer to the new academic center. Because students can't hear a whistle blow, the gym features a hardwood floor that reverberates the vibrations made when teachers pound on a large bass drum to get the student's attention. During basketball games, when a whistle is blown for hearing teams, a red light goes off around the backboard of the baskets to let players know play has stopped.
"It's so cool!" Lewandowski said. "Deaf people always feel vibrations, and it gives us more energy the more vibrations going on in the room. It has this energy and excitement."
Lewandowski glowed with excitement when asked what he thought of the new school's design features: "This is much bigger; this has exceeded our expectations in terms of space, light compared to the old building."
The new Divine Academic Building, named after former teachers Belle and Louis Divine, has wider hallways and lets in more natural light. It also features mass timber beams and posts throughout. Corners in the hallways have glass walls so students can see who is coming around it and be able to sign through the glass. Stairwells are wider and feature shorter rises and longer runs so students can sign with each other while also walking up the stairs without having to hold on to the handrails.
All these little details make a big difference for the learning environment of students that live and learn here. The school for the deaf is the only state-funded school for the deaf in Washington and because students come from all over the state, many live here throughout the week.
"I want this to be a sense of home, but I also want it to feel warm. When we use mass timber, that was very important to me to provide that feeling," Bilyeu said. "I feel like this building in several ways levels the playing field. It provides access like we've never had before for our deaf education and students here."
For Bilyeu, it's more than just the details and new spaces that brings her joy, "I see smiles. I see people signing from all the way across the hall from different ends."
Construction work is still being done, the area of the campus where the old gym was is being torn down and replaced with a U11 soccer field. The construction on the new field should be complete by spring 2025.
