Just recently the city has begun the process of rebuilding our school infrastructure. Long overdue and neglected, the first project begins with Patrick Henry School. The school dates back to the 1950s and is currently unfit for educating our youth. The city has budgeted $38.7 million for this project with no firm budget for the accompanying recreation center ($6.9-$8.2 million have been tossed around). Without adequate discussion and public hearing, the School Board and the City Council have passed the buck and moved this project forward,despite the failure of the planning board and recreation department to deliver a viable plan for the recreation center. Dissension and hesitation on the part of the School Board and City Council have permeated the discussions and we are only in the second inning of this project with 11 more to follow. An inauspicious beginning.
The project is defined by two entities, the rebuilding of the school and an accompanying recreation center. Both entities are intertwined and will deliver the shape, size and location of the building and more importantly the ingress, egress from the structures, parking, traffic issues, the proximity to the neighborhood and the amount of open space in this area which is a priority in the master plan. This is a major undertaking. The city has never in the past seven years delivered a project of this scope on time and on budget. To rush through this preliminary stage based upon some who believe a delay of three months would have negative implications in the project is ridiculous and irresponsible. The citizenry has had minimal dialogue with the School Board and recreation department and there was no public hearing provided. Patrick Henry has been a broken school for the past 10 years; what difference does 6-12 months make if we can get it right this time?
The recent election has given us our mandate — any project or alteration to a neighborhood must respect the neighborhoods and result in cost conscious development. Council members Paul Smedberg, Del Pepper and Mayor elect — Allison Silberberg did their best to bring some reason into this discussion; they got it right. The best reason not to continue was Smedberg’s assertion to fire the bunch who worked on this project and start over because this proposal process was poor. The recreation department has always been self serving and difficult to deal with. They are quick to borrow city fields but are reluctant to share their fields space with others. Bravo to those council members who stood their ground despite the attempted pressure to hastily move forward. Where were the other two council members Wilson and Chapman and the mayor? Haste makes waste. The City Council and School Board have a new mandate from the public namely to deliver these projects on scale, and on budget — take all the time that is necessary — but for for once just get it right.
Bill Goff
Alexandria