Cowboys ride again
Written by Tom Pounds | President / Publisher | tpounds@toledofreepress.comThe proposed deal to salvage part of the Libbey High School campus represents a great compromise, but opens many questions about funding and ultimate purpose.
After months of tireless campaigning by a group led by Sue Terrill and Warren Woodberry to keep the Libbey preservation effort in front of elected officials and the media, Toledo Public Schools (TPS) and the City of Toledo have found common ground on saving part of the facility.
That is quite a turnaround from a March 4 meeting at which Mayor Mike Bell and TPS Superintendent Jerome Pecko were adamant that there was no interest in saving Libbey.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur facilitated discussions with Owens Community College and the University of Toledo. Kaptur has hoped any future use of the Libbey complex would have an educational component.
The poor treatment of the group trying to save Libbey has been a sour note throughout this conversation; there did not seem to be a great deal of respect or even willingness to truly hear the group’s concerns. This new proposal is a great stride toward recognizing the preservationists’ efforts, but some disturbing questions remain.
Deputy Mayor Steve Herwat said one of the conditions of the deal, in which TPS would loan the city the money to purchase the athletic facility and skills center part of Libbey, was that the property could not be offered to a charter school. It is widely understood that TPS does not go out of its way to make things easy for its charter school competition, but such a condition seems especially acrimonious and churlish.
There is, of course, the question of funding. Neither TPS nor the city is flush with cash. With estimates of $1 million just to install a heating and air conditioning system in the Libbey facility, there could be a great deal of expense facing organizations that do have any cash to spare.
There is also no agreement about who would own the land the main building is on once it is torn down; would there be a vacant TPS-owned lot bordering the city-owned building?
There will be a meeting at 1 p.m. May 3 to discuss more details about the proposal. While it is encouraging to see cooperation and the possibility that some of the Libbey campus may be saved, the financial and usage concerns raised by councilmen Rob Ludeman, George Sarantou and Tom Waniewski need to be directly addressed before any action is taken.
Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.
Tags: City of Toledo, George Sarantou, Libbey High School, Publisher's Statement, Rob Ludeman, Steve Herwat, Sue Terrill, Toledo Public Schools, Tom Pounds, Tom Waniewski, Warren Woodberry
It is past time to challenge the state on how these buildings can be mothballed and sold to an entity that has the means to reuse them for a new purpose.
This comment was posted on April 30th, 2011 at 10:30 amThe biggest challenge was to get TPS, the administration and the alumni association and those fighting to create a community center to the table. With the compassion and inspiration supplied by Congresswoman Kaptur, all three sides decided to revisit their position on the subject of how to at least save portions of the complex. I believe that the city made the right choice both economically and morally. In today’s economy that complex would cost millions, And due to the fact that it is also capable of creating income, providing jobs,education,sports,theater,arts and crafts,and assistance for those in need, I believe that it is a sound purchase. Now that City Council is at the table and will and should ask the right questions, I believe that it will be a win-win situation for the city of Toledo. It will give the city the chance to see how much progress can be made when we are all on board to make something positive happen. Will everyone be happy with this project? Of course not! There are some that said that we should not have went to the moon, or entered WWll, or allowed women to be educated. Differences will always be in the mix. But to attempt to save TPS some portion of the demolition cost that can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars and to give a community that has lost a school, a YMCA along with the rumor that the Boys and Girls Club on South Street is scheduled to move, makes the acquisition by the city a winning proposition. This is about a neighborhood and giving the people there that pay taxes, some form of a helping hand. You save a city block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood. That is what this is all about. And with media that can see this, such as the Toledo Free Press, the story can be told so that more people will understand.
This comment was posted on April 30th, 2011 at 2:54 pm