By LEAH WEATHERSBY

Over $1 million to build a high school? Oh, the extravagance!

That was what some Seattleites thought of the School District's plan for the Northeast High School (now known as Roosevelt High) back in 1917 when the project was first put forward. But Seattle needed a new high school - that much was clear. Although Lincoln High in Wallingford had been built only a decade earlier, it was already over-crowded. And while the Roosevelt area was at the time on the outer fringes of the City, the community was growing quickly.

The School District purchased the property for the proposed high school, at 1410 NE 66th St., for a mere $38,496. Floyd Naramore, a local architect, was hired to design the new school. Those who balked at the school's hefty construction costs complained about Naramore's plan to include a 1,500-seat auditorium and stage, which would become one of the largest such lecture/performance spaces on the West Coast. Even today, most school auditoriums in Seattle only seat about 600 people. Despite the critics, the School District decided to build the auditorium anyway.

The new school opened in 1922, not as Northeast High, but as Roosevelt High, in honor of former President (and legendary outdoorsman) Teddy Roosevelt, who passed away three years earlier. Roosevelt served as president from 1901 to 1908.

Roosevelt High had 1,300 students and 47 teachers its first year. Roosevelt's inaugural principal was V.K. Froula, who was later honored for his years of service when the school dedicated an organ in his name in 1940. That organ can still be found today in the school's auditorium.

The school's first yearbook, published in 1923, contains a picture of the school with Roosevelt's head looking down over it. Underneath the picture was the statement: "The Spirit Behind the School."

The building was dedicated on Roosevelt's birthday, Oct. 27.

The school's nickname, the Rough Riders, is a reference to the volunteer cavalry led by Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Even the yearbook, known as"The Strenuous Life" is a reference to the late president's travails, although many former high school students have undoubtedly found it descriptive of their personal circumstances as well.

One essay in the first Roosevelt yearbook ends by describing the students' goals this way: "Što live up to the best that is in them, in order that the name of Roosevelt may never be dishonored."

Recently, several portions of the Roosevelt High School campus were designated historical landmarks by the City's Landmarks Preservation Board, including the school's exteriors, which were constructed in 1922 and 1928, as well as the interior entry lobby, the auditorium and two former gyms (one for boys, one for girls), which are now used as exercise rooms.

The designation means that any changes affecting these parts of the building must be approved by the Landmarks Board, but doesn't guarantee that they will be saved from the wrecking ball.

The School District is planning a major renovation of Roosevelt, which would start in 2004. The project, which must get approval from the Landmarks Board, calls for demolishing the gyms and turning the auditorium into a library. The School District will be submitting its current renovation plan to the Landmarks Board on Aug. 2.

Andrea Wilson, co-coordinator of Friends of Roosevelt High School Preservation, wants the School District to try harder maintain both the auditorium's original use and the existence of the two gyms, which she says could be used as a library.

"Our group is very disappointed that the School District is not trying harder to honor the landmarking of those two spaces," Wilson said. But, she added, "we haven't exhausted all our avenues."

Kathy Johnson, a spokeswoman for the School District, said under the current plan, most of the historic aspects of the auditorium would be preserved, including the historic organ dedicated to Froula.

Johnson said the auditorium was originally geared more towards lectures than music and drama, and lacks the appropriate amenities such as acoustics and lighting for the school's needs. "It's a real detriment to the school to reuse (the auditorium) in that use," she said. While Seattleites back in 1922 were shocked at the $1.25 million price tag for building Roosevelt, the District would be lucky to get off so cheaply in the present day. The current project to renovate Roosevelt is budgeted at over $70 million.