Spokane Public Schools wants to negotiate a land swap with the city of Spokane for a potential site for a new middle school that would be located just south of Joe Albi Stadium in northwest Spokane, says Mark Anderson, the district's associate superintendent for support services.

The exchange would involve a 2-acre parcel the district owns in the Southgate area next to Regal Street, on the south edge of the city's Southeast Sports Complex.

"We don't need that site anymore," Anderson says.

The district's site currently is occupied by satellite dishes that the district plans to move a half-mile south to its KSPS radio transmission site adjacent to Ferris High School.

The 20-acre parcel the district is seeking in trade is on the south side of Joe Albi Stadium, which is located at 4918 W. Wellesley. The district also is entering negotiations to extend its lease of the stadium.

A new middle school likely would have a total of 130,000 square feet of floor space and cost about $50 million to construct, says Greg Brown, the district's director of capital improvements.

Though the district's parcel is much smaller than the land it would seek in trade from the city, the exchange would be equitable, Anderson asserts, because the district's land on the upper South Hill could be vital to the future development of the Southgate area. He says the city could use the parcel to provide additional parking for the Southeast Sports Complex and as a site to construct infrastructure to serve the Southgate area.

The district's site is appraised at $870,000, he says.

Brian Coddington, a spokesman for the city, declines to comment on specific pieces of property or uses for land that might be involved in such a trade. Coddington says, however, that discussions are under way to determine if the city and other interested parties can agree on the best uses for certain land owned by the city.

The Southgate area includes the planned $30 million Regal Plaza shopping center at the southeast corner of Regal Street and Palouse Highway, where Spokane developer David Black announced last week that Minneapolis-based Target Corp. plans to break ground in the fall for a 135,000-square-foot anchor store. Target followed up earlier this week with its own announcement of plans for the store, which it said will employ about 200 people. Regal Plaza would be directly across Regal from the district's parcel.

An increase in students and potential changes in Washington state's education funding are fueling anticipated needs for a new middle school, Anderson says.

"We're starting to grow again," Anderson says of the district's student population, which had been shrinking in recent years.

Anderson says the Washington state Supreme Court has mandated that the state provide more funding for education by 2018.

"The court ordered the state to follow a basic education model that includes lowering class sizes from kindergarten through third grade," Anderson says. "If that happens, our elementary schools will be packed, and we may have to move the sixth graders out to other facilities."

Such a move would create the need for at least one more middle school, he says. The district currently operates six middle schools.

The proposed middle school would be included in a year-long school facilities study that will begin this fall to determine projects that would be included in a 2015 bond measure.

The envisioned land trade would be the subject of two separate public hearings that likely will be held later this month by the district and the city.

Separately, the school district is beginning negotiations with the city to extend its lease of the 26,000-seat Joe Albi Stadium as its central venue for Greater Spokane League football and soccer games, while it also studies options for permanent stadium facilities.

Two options being considered for a central stadium involve buying Joe Albi Stadium and downsizing it to a 6,000-seat facility, or building a new 6,000-seat stadium near Avista Stadium, which likely would cost in the range of $18.1 million to $23.7 million.

Other options include upgrading five high school stadiums that would seat 1,500 to 3,500 people at an estimated cost of $23.4 million to $29.4 million.

"We've had a meeting at every high school and every affected neighborhood council" to discuss the options, Anderson says.

He says those who have attended the presentations have shown a strong preference for having one stadium rather than five smaller stadiums, because it would cost less to develop and maintain one central facility.

Brown says the district has started predevelopment discussions with the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley to determine obstacles and challenges in renovating Joe Albi or constructing a new stadium at another site.

"We're getting the information now so we can put together a final presentation to the board and have the costs refined," Brown says.

Coddington says the city hopes to work out a partnership or arrangement with the district and is interested in seeing the Joe Albi stadium site remain a community asset.

The district likely will decide by fall 2014 whether to include stadium funding in the 2015 bond measure, Anderson says.