An "idea board" stood in the middle of the main event room at the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse on a recent Sunday morning as alumni and community members milled around discussing the past, present and future of the 90-year-old school building.

The Fauntleroy Children's Center has leased the building from the Seattle School District for more than 25 years, but it's future is in jeopardy as the School Board reviews current leases with its "youth and family centers."

The non-profit, and other agencies that lease old school buildings across the city, pay a discounted rent of 50 percent fair-market value in exchange for maintenance and general up-keep of the facilities.

District property management officials have recommended that several of those buildings, including Fauntleroy, be considered surplus.

The event held Sunday April 29 was an opportunity for the community to talk about what more the property could mean for West Seattle, said Kim Sheridan, director of the Fauntleroy Children's Center.

"This is the first chance to get ideas out there and be a part of the process," Sheridan said. "I think the (school) district needs to hear from the community."

On the idea board, amidst conjured memories of school days, weddings and community events held at the site, green dots were plastered next to ideas that people favored like community gardens, environmental education and salmon habitat centers.

Red dots were placed next to options like condominiums, town homes and mixed use retail developments.

"Red means no, and green means go," said David Meckstroth, co-owner of Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering, one of the businesses that leases space out of the building.

Even though the school district has said it would give current tenants first dibs on purchasing the properties if sold, some are worried the community assets will end up in the hands of developers.

"We really don't want to see it become condos," said Vicki Schmitz, a member of the Fauntleroy Community Association. "It's really the heart and soul of the Fauntleroy area - it's something we need to rally around."

A for-profit dance studio and catering company sublease space in the schoolhouse at market-rate rents, but the district may also change its policy that allows master tenants to charge full rent to businesses that don't provide kindergarten-through-12th-grade services.

Because 95 percent of the child center tuition goes toward teacher's salaries, rents from other tenants help subsidize costs of running the center and maintaining the building, said Kevin Wooley, president of the Fauntleroy Community Services Agency, the group that runs the children's center.

If the childcare center were to close, the community would lose a great service, he said. Up to 120 children are at the center at any given time and it provides a discount for low-income families.

The School Board could vote in the next several weeks on whether to sell the sites or lease them out long-term.

Community members were also invited to take guided tours of the five-acre site, including the dance theater, children's center and playfields.

Lining the halls were displays of the school's history since it opened in 1918 and up until it closed in 1981. Old schoolmates reunited over class pictures and poked fun at each other's hair do's and old-fashioned clothing.

Rebekah Schilperoort may be reached at 783.1244 or rebekahs@robinsonnews.com