.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
 |
| Hmmm, What School Is He So Proud of Here? |
Lauderdale County Circuit Judge Gil Self recently ruled in favor of the University of North Alabama in its suit against the Florence School Board (and by extension the City of Florence). Should he have recused himself from the case? No? After all, it's not like...
* UNA (then Florence State) supported him as a child
* The field house is named for his father
* His father was the center of the athletic program for decades
No, why should Self have recused? This whole mess stinks worse than the Florence-Lauderdale Tourism Board.
*****
To the retired teacher (who still works for UNA) who suggested Powell School would make a perfect middle school, we say shame on you also! If Coffee High School built in 1952 was not deemed by architects to be salvageable, why would Powell built c. 1958 be more suited to current needs? If it's all about saving money, let the kiddies remain in the modular classrooms...that's trailers to most of us common folks.
Now I may be wrong, but I believe the intent was to use the Powell school LOCATION to CONSTRUCT a new middle school. This is the location that should have been considered initially. It is in a neighborhood setting and far less traffically congested. It never made sense to me to build another school on the old Coffee site. It is crowded, it is in a bad neighborhood and IT HAS THE ONLY FOOTBALL STADIUM IN TOWN WHICH IS USED BY ONE HIGH SCHOOL AND A UNIVERSITY! What is to consider? Build the new school where it would do the most good.
ReplyDeleteThe retired teacher does say only "obtain the land." Re-reading that, we see it could go either way. The architect did say in February that it would significantly up the costs to redo the current plans for another location. I will disagree with one thing--the bad neighborhood. With the exception of the minimart/vacant lot, the neighborhood is not significantly run down overall.
ReplyDeleteOh come on Shoalanda, have you DRIVEN down Royal Ave lately (like in the last 10 years)????? It is practically ALL Section 8 rental property. What about Howell, Hermitage and Cherry? Slumlords have ruined this entire area. Have you seen what "hangs out" at the mini mart? This isn't really a safe location for preteens or adults to pick them up at school for that matter. There have been some noble efforts to restore some of the more rundown properties and "historical" designation of a few streets like Cherry but for the most part the neighborhood is dangerous. Check out the FPD police reports.
DeleteWe agree about Royal. Cherry? Some nice homes and some that need a new owner with money. Howell? The last time we checked, it was the northern end that had problems-some very nice homes on the stadium end of Howell/Hermitage. The problem with Cherry and Howell, as an appraiser once told me about much of "downtown" Florence, is the mix of homes. A 40K home might be next door to a 100K home. Back to Royal, we would like to see the city purchase all the homes between the minimart and the tennis courts and provide more parking for the stadium. Or UNA purchase it. No, if I lived on Cherry or Howell, I would not want to be grouped with Royal Avenue or Simpson Street. Sad that there aren't funds for some gentrification in those neighborhoods.
Delete