Local: Victory at Frye and Wisconsin avenues

January 8, 2008
By Billy Dennis

Peoria School District 150 will build a new East Bluff “birth-through-8th-grade” school on the site of the current Glen Oak School. The exact configuration has not been determined.

It is, obviously, a huge victory for the people who live in and near the East Bluff who fought for this outcome from the very instant years ago when District 150 announced it had made a deals with the Peoria Park District and the Peoria Housing Authority that would lead to building this school inside Glen Oak Park.

Residents correctly recognized that by moving the neighborhood school onto the other side of Prospect and essentially out of the neighborhood, the entire East Bluff would be destabilized. It would create vacant shell of a building in the heart of the East Bluff, to both symbolize and perpetuate the decay.

Instead, the East Bluff is getting a brand new school that can serve as a center of activity for everyone.

I’m awaiting to find out how much the City of Peoria had to kick in to sweeten the pot for District 150 to make what should have been a no-brainer of a decision. It matters not. Whether it’s federal dollars or city-generated property taxes, it’s ALL taxpayer money, and building a school is as essential a government service as it gets.

But the East Bluff residents cannot let up on District 150. The exact design of this new site has not been determined. Vigilance is needed to ensure that accommodations are made within the design to make sure this is building is available for use by the community year round and after classes are dismissed. Policies MUST be put into place to make sure the doors are not locked when neighbors want to use the facilities for events that promote healthy neighborhoods. Vague assurances and good intentions are NOT enough.

And it also looks like there’s some positive changes going on at Manual High School too.

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2 Responses to “ Local: Victory at Frye and Wisconsin avenues ”

  1. sctobrien on January 8, 2008 at 10:31 am

    I have asked this question again and again and no one seems to answer it:

    How is a brand new school going to improve Dist 150? It’s like building a new home for Willie York.

    Unless something fundamental changes in how Dist 150 operates, how is a new school going to make a difference?

    It seems as if progress to 150 is pure smoke and mirrors and they are trying to say to the public if they build new schools then the district must be improving.

  2. RomanII on January 8, 2008 at 3:43 pm

    Going into new schools rather than these death-traps we have now in some localities has to excite even the worst students. The environment will change and maybe even get some of the no-care parents interested enough to encourage their kids to go to school and make something of themselves. It’s certainly worth a try and it’s only money. Sounds better than spending two million at Expo Gardens for those who already have access to similiar recreational facilities.Dorry Bill Spears, but let’s feed the hungry before the fat.