District 150 will decide tonight whether the new, enlarged Glen Oak School campus will extend north or south of the current campus. The Journal Star reports:
“We need to make a definite decision,” Gorenz said Monday. He wouldn’t elaborate which direction, whether to the north or south, he thought the new school might extend, saying that would be made known tonight.
The district so far has discussed three proposals for expanding the Glen Oak Primary School campus from its current three acres to as many as 12 acres.
So, just what do these possibilities look like? Here are a few options that the school board is considering — two options to expand to the north, and one option to expand to the south. Rumor has it that the southward expansion is favored (click on each picture for larger image):
They still insist on consuming more acreage than they need. These site plans would be appropriate for a suburban school. But for a neighborhood school in an urban area, this is not an appropriate use of land — especially the excessive parking areas. The staff parking lot is more than sufficient — why do they need “bus parking”? And why do they need another parking lot? Are the third-graders driving themselves to school now and need a place to leave their cars during the day? And why is the school building all spread out? Why not build up and take up a smaller footprint?
Is anyone on the school board asking these questions?
UPDATE: The school board did indeed decide on the southward plan. It was pointed out that these drawings (above) are conceptual. They’re not final site plans. The placement and configuration of the building, for instance, may be different than what is shown. It was stated that the public will have input — especially those who live in the Glen Oak School attendance area.
The cost of the project, including property acquisition, is estimated to be $27 million. And that’s the amount the school board will request from the Public Building Commission. School board member Jim Stowell suggested the City should help with property acquisition costs.
I wrote this post originally a bit in haste, as I wanted to get the pictures up as soon as possible. Thus, my comments sounded a bit overly negative. I should have stated that, on the positive side, I am pleased that the school board chose the current Glen Oak School site. It is by far the best location, and they should be applauded for listening to the wishes of the City, neighborhood associations, residents, teachers, et. al.
Nevertheless, I do still have the concerns I noted above. The excessive land requirements are unnecessary and needlessly inflate the price of the school project. Perhaps with some more public input, the school board will scale back the size as well.
I would like to see it expand south, but I don’t know if I see the city closing Frye as a through street.
Your finally getting your way and you still find a reason to bitch.
Build it at the park
Picture #1: FAIL
Picture #2: FAIL
Picture #3: FAIL
This project still has the air of Epic FAIL about it.
Someone needs to go back to school and study up on the architecture of Hewitt & Emerson.
CJ,
Must there ALWAYS be an issue, in Peoria, with District 150 schools? It’s time to change Your image of what (urban) school campus design should be! Remember, that new) urban schools aren’t the schools of late-19th and early-20th century. Gone is the, multi-storied school building, in a neighborhood block/park setting that Most of Us, from past eras, attended.
Modern school buildings (except where land is scare or too expensive to acquire) are, commonly, built in a horizontal layout with vast acreage to accommodate the, numerous and varied, athletics of today’s students (ex: baseball/softball, football, soccer, etc.). Off-street parking driveways/lots remove children and buses from neighborhood streets lessening the potential for traffic jams and dangerous accidents.
One/Two story (building) layouts are, more, functional and ideal for such modern amenities as larger classrooms equipped with state-of-the-art technology, tech and science labs, amphitheaters, multi-purpose rooms, etc. ALSO, These are easier to construct (seamless) additions onto if needed for expansion.
Give the District 150 board, some, credit! It’s plans are consistent with the results of two decades of, national, research and studies of model school campuses throughout the United States. AND…. District 150 has, repeatedly, stated that These schools are to serve as neighborhood/community centers. THESE larger campus plans will help achieve that purpose.
ABOUT THE, SURROUNDING, NEIGHBORHOOD…. It’s change is, already, underway! Besides the (new) school, the (new) Peoria Zoo expansion and renovation…. believe It or not… will also impact that area with further change and development.
New development begets MORE new development. THIS neighborhood, within 10 years, will become one of the, most, desirable area’s of Peoria to live in.
The, new, school campus will be a part of That progress!
Lets get moving on this. I think it looks like a great plan and the kids will finally have a decent school and the neighborhood as a whole will benefit much from this new development.
I think the District 150 plan looks great! So it takes up some ground? People have been moving to suburban areas for many reasons. Having some space to spread out and having green around the school is wonderful. Must we try to stay in the past with multi-story buildings that are unfriendly to those with disabilities?
Parking? Super! When parents come to school for plays, music programs, etc., they will be able to park without screwing up the neighborhoods around the school. There are schools in the District 150 system that have some space around them. Don’t these kids deserve that also. The hang-up that many have about density being desireable are not listening to what most people want.
Good job District 150. A grand plan that will help a struggling area, and done without the “help” of the bloated Peoria Park District.
“More public input the school board will scale back the size ” Look how long it has taken us to get this far. with #150 money is not a problem, They spent $$$ for the park site and not gained a thing.
I just want them to go forward and do it, enough talk. Still rember the “bees” meeting.
Yes maybe the fix would be to build it in the Park. From what I see, a lot of homes just went up in value. No wonder so many people turned out to bitch about the GOP site. I wonder how many of those with homes in the way are planning nice vacations with the money.
This isn’t going to be like the Bradley deal. These people will get what those houses are worth on the market. Hopefully those that have lived there along time will be able to afford to relocate to something better. It is a tough situation for all. We need the new school but those people that are living in their owner occupied homes (not slumlords) should be compensated fairly also. Fairly is the key word here.
Yeah, right. I’ll bet you sure as anything some of those people will hold out for more than what they think “market value” is worth.
or..they could simply build the school in the park and not have to deal with those poor poor people that are going to have to relocate.
Emtronics:
(IMHO)The park issue with the school was an encrochment on some park assets by the school. The park is for EVERYONE not for just school kids . The issue of people “bitching” about the sites was more than money and vacations, it was about the future of the East Bluff , the City and our schools. Some people are interested in making this neighborhood a better place to live. It starts in the homes and schools. What a better place to start with , a school in the neighborhood. Then hopefuly the neighborhood will be reborn.
Emtronics What if one of those poor poor peoples home was your family home for generations,built with the hard work it takes to build and pay for a home.All done so they could pass something on to the family of the next generation.If they get more than fair market value, then more power to them.They did not want to move they were forced.
Since this is a goverment body developing the land are the rules different than a private entity wanting to buy the property? The state can take your land to build a highway and pay fair market for it. Can the school district take your land and pay fair market if that’s what it comes to? Or can you hold out and it will just end up in court?
Simple I would ask $500,000 for that home and both the parks and the schools are funded by property taxes so they are both for everyone.
My guess is that eminent domain is a possibility since we are talking about public infrastructure. A school would be way closer to a highway than a Cub foods. While I don’t think they need this much land, I wouldn’t put it past them to use such a tool (if I were in their position, I probably would, too.)
Maybe some of the displaced homeowners could get a trade on some of the vacant houses in the area. If that could be arranged it might ease some of the tensions and keep home owners in the neighborhood. Then they wouldn’t ask $500,000 for their property,unless it is worth it.
Remember Bradley could pay whatever they felt necessary to get what they wanted. It so happened that half million is what they agreed on for some of the properties. Good for the owners. I wish I had the forsight to have invested in some of those homes years ago. The district on the other hand will/can only pay fair market. The tax payers will be watching closely.
Exactly peoriafan, which IMO is why there was people that wanted that school built on its current site. Watch the greed and see if some really care about the neighborhood. We shall see, we shall see. In the end, this is going to cost way more than the GO Park site ever would. None of those houses on Maplewood were worth $500,000.
Emtronics — There are a couple problems with your logic. First of all, there are lots of houses on Prospect that would have had to be acquired for the school to realize its original vision of having a school in the park; the few that were bought prematurely were purchased for more than market value. Secondly, while the school district may pay more than market value for homes, they’re not going to get held up for $500,000 like Bradley was. Why? Because the school district has the power of eminent domain (105 ILCS 5/22-16) — something Bradley doesn’t have.
Bradley is a private business just like a hospital or CAT. They felt they could afford to spend that kind of money to buy adjoining property to expend their business.
I feel these property owners at Glen Oak should be fairly compensated for the house/business and land. They should be compensated for moving cost.
If they get greedy and think they won the Lottery then they will have to take it to court because that is the tax payers money they are messing with.
In a perfect world yes CJ but exactly how many houses/businesses will the district have to buy for the South plan? I’ll bet way more than at GOP. And if they have to exercise eminent domain, then won’t that delay the process costing even more in construction?
The land the district wanted in GOP, while park land, isn’t all used all that much now. In fact GOP is pretty much a dump for a park. Just ask the drug dealers that hang out there.