Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 09/20/2001

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[0 PIanning August 200[ What's Mine is Yours When second graders at Eastern Elementary in Meigs Cotmty, Ohio, file into the school library to hunt for a favorite book, they may spot their mothers, anei or a local college student using the computers, c out a novel, or attending a mee library .g in the rOOllL For the children, this is a school li- brary. For local garden club mem- bers, this is a public library. What was once an effort by' a few Johnny Appleseeds in the planning world to marry school and community re- sources has recently exploded into a full-scale movement to plan and build schools with multiple purposes. And the collaboration does not stop with schools: City police stations, abandoned public buildings, even state park- ing garages serve as great resources for local communities looking for innovative, cost-ef- fective solutions for a variety of needs, from athletic facilities to public markets to public health centers. For Eastern Elementary, an 811-student, K-8 school serving the rural Ohio townships of Chester, Orange, and Olive, this spirit of collaboration yielded a 24,000-square4b public library branch within a new tary school. Planning for the school li- brary began in 1996; construction up in April 1997, and the doors t~ $7.8 million school opened to and the local community on August ~ aseparate entrance and >arate res[rooms allow library patrons to t outside of school hours. During the s. year, the library operates from 8 8 p.m., with a school librarian on 3 p.m. Weekends and during the the county has sole re- sponsibility and keeps 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. hours. A public library in the eastern end of the county saves patrons a 20- to 30-minute drive into the town of Pomeroy, where the next -;~]~kst library is located, says Deryl Well. superintendent of the local school district in eastern Meigs County. The numbers show that the convenience appreciated: "The circulation at this bran two times as much as our other library bt says Patricia Holler, past presiden~ active member of the Meigs County i y Board. Of the $1.8 million school board paid for the library, · kicked in $300,000 for and furnish- ings. In addition, th ~ool board charges the county library fo aintenance, supplies, and use of the bull From perspective, the joint venture has pla the school at the heart of the intent of the many retired tea business people, community mem- and parents engaged in planning the school building. "Everyone has to have a feel- ing of importance," Well says. This is a lesson that Well and the school board learned the hard way in the late 1980s, when they failed to get enough votes for a bond issue to finance tile school. Looking for added value Tile same lesson has been repeated in school districts around the country over the last two decades. Although overcrowded and even make- shift classrooms have become the norm in recent years, taxpayers and other potential fun&rs are rductant to pony up big dollars for traditional schools that operate apart from the broader public. Gaylord, Michigan (pop. 4,300), rejected bond issues in April and September of 1990, ignoring the school board's argument that the city needed a new high school to replace the o one, which was built in the 1940s. the third try that year, the school board finally created a community process that gave locals a sense of ownership in the $16.9 mil- lion building they were being asked to fund. The necessary bond issue passed by a margin in November 1990. Planning for the 200,000-square-foot cility took place through the 1990-91 school year. Construction started in May 1992, and students occupied the facility in September 1994. "We had 13 different planning commit- tees--the arts council, music boosters, band committee, soccer association," says Mason Buckingham, then Superintendent of Gaylord Community Schools. "At the time this high school was built, the only auditoriums we had were in churches and gyms. We didn't have any place for concerts and plays." The school now boasts a state-of-the-art auditorium with 550 seats and an orchestra pit for professional performances. Local pro- fessional trouPes have presented Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors, Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, and other ambitious productions. A special relationship has been forged be- tween the school and seniors in Gaylord, a self-proclaimed golfing mecca that attracts a lot of retirees. No one may stage a perfor- mance in the auditorium without enlisting the help of the Retired Senior Volunteer P gram Usher Corps, which has been tra~ help enforce the rules and protect the audito- rium. "Who better than the older people in the community to tell someone to take their feet off a chair?" says Ernie Grocock, former Gaylord mayor and now the RSVP head usher.