BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Demolition has begun on a nearly 120-year-old building in Bellingham.

Crews began demolition on the former Bellingham Public Schools District Office, located 1306 Dupont St., earlier this week.

The building served as a schoolhouse from its construction in 1908, until it was converted to the district office in 1972. In 2024, BPS moved their district office to its current location on Barkley Boulevard.

The Roeder School in the early 1900s. Right image is during construction. Photos by J.W. Sandison/Courtesy of Whatcom Museum

In June 2026, 4th Corner Commons purchased the site for around $3 million with plans to develop a cohousing community.

The decision to demolish the building came after a feasibility study was conducted by 4th Corner. Their community coordinator Shelly Parks says the building, which had never been retrofitted, was deemed too cost prohibitive to justify converting it into the planned housing community.

Initial mitigation on the site revealed asbestos and mercury in the 118-year-old building. A design review board report evaluated the plans for new construction following demolition, noting that the historical site needed to go through stricter review to make sure there was no way to save the building.

Crews work with an excavator and hoses to demolish the 118-year-old Roeder School building. Photo by Adam Rideout Redeker

Ahead of demolition, Parks says several items were saved from the demolition and will be repurposed in the new building.

She listed the front sign that said “Roeder School 1908” as well as a commemorative plaque for Henry Roeder, the school’s namesake, donated by Daughters of the American Revolution were saved. Additionally, some doorknobs, about 25 pallets of bricks and wood from the trees cut down will be repurposed in the new building.

We’re going to make bowls out of the wood from the trees for the common areas, Parks told My Bellingham Now. The bricks will be used in landscaping she added.

The front of the Roeder School in Bellingham on Nov. 12, 2026. Photo by Adam Rideout Redeker.

Parks says construction on the site is expected to be finished and move-in ready in two years.

So far, 25 people have already reserved spots in the 42-home community.