FeedGlen Oak Park School opposition getting organized
March 30, 2006 in Overset
I received the following email:
There will be a meeting at the
East Bluff House (corner of Wisconsin & Nebraska Avenues) on Saturday, April 1st at 1:15 - 2:45. The discussion will center on the proposed school to be located on/adjacent to park property. Everyone I have spoken with thus far has been opposed to that particular location, and this will be a forum to seek out a game plan, so to speak, on what we as neighbors can do to make our voices heard.
March 30th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
More power to them. The park district and school district need to be stopped before they do any more damage. Next thing you know, they’ll be putting a school on Bradley Park at the corner of Main and Farmington, then mowing down all the houses on Parkside Drive.
March 30th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
March 30th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Nice, Anon. Your concern for neighbors who are losing their houses is touching.
March 30th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
This meeting is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC unlike some other alleged meetings. Pro or con, whatever your flavor…you should and have the right to be heard. When it’s Bradley’s turn, you’ll never know who might help back you.
March 30th, 2006 at 4:47 pm
I reread my original comment and realized it could be easily misconstrued. I am totally against the school district siting a new school at the corner of Frye and Prospect (see my blog). I think it destabilizes the neighborhood and needlessly displaces long-time homeowners. This should concern all Peorians, not just those whose houses are targeted. The school district is planning to build four more schools like this — don’t think your neighborhood couldn’t be next (unless you live in the fifth district). And while I was using a bit of hyperbole, I do think you should be especially wary if you live next to a park, school, or trail. If you want to call this a “sky is falling” fear, that’s fine. Considering the way the school district sprang this on the city/residents, I think it’s a justified fear.
March 30th, 2006 at 8:32 pm
CJ:
I agree with the spirit of your position on this subject due to the fact that residents will be displaced through means such as emminent domain. I generally dissagree with the use of this tool.
This is America. If you want people to move, you’d better have the money to put up. If people leave willingly through monetary offers that are too good to pass up, then so be it. I can handle that.
That being said, I REALLY like the concept of this school. If Peoria is trying to revitalize the neighborhood concept, with small centers of activity, commerce, meeting, etc scattered throughout the city, I think this will help. What they need to do is find a location where you aren’t displacing so many of the neighbors that they are trying to serve.
However, PSD150 has a huge problem on its hands in the form of substandard school conditions. SOMETHING needs to be done and soon. In the end, someone will have to be inconvenienced to make it happen.
Its too bad that this isn’t a perfect world.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:00 am
As soon as school is over, knock down the old Glen Oak School. Start building the new school on that site. Make it fit. Send the students who would be going there in the fall to other schools that are nearby, and are likely slated for demolition, too. Work like busy bees on the new school, and I’m betting it could be done by the following fall. Follow this same recipe all over the city regarding the other schools that need to be replaced… if more than one can be done at a time, then that’s far-out.
March 31st, 2006 at 2:58 pm
“Next thing you know, they’ll be putting a school on Bradley Park at the corner of Main and Farmington, then mowing down all the houses on Parkside Drive.”
Actually, in a long term projection that Bradley made 10 or 15 years ago, they showed Dorms in Bradley Park. I wish we had Internet back then so that the study, which was proudly shown to the public, would have been archived for future review. Am I the only one who remembers this study?
March 31st, 2006 at 3:25 pm
So, now that the study is long gone, maybe people will realize that all this hullabaloo about the current BU proposal is a bit premature.
BU has been talking about redoing the fieldhouse and Haussler hall for as long as I can remember. It will probably be that long before something actually gets done, and I will bet that it ISN’T the current proposal, or the one from 10-15 years ago.
March 31st, 2006 at 7:20 pm
The difference between now and then Tony is that BU owns the houses. BIG difference.