MINUTES A Community Vision for Schenley High School Community Meeting 3 25 July 2012 Consultant Report: Review Final Concepts
Building on the test-fit (space capacity) analyses and comments from the first two community meetings, plus additional input received via OPDCʼs project website, an outline of key elements of the final report was presented. The following lists represents proposed content for the final report and ideas and comments from participants of Community Meeting 3, held at UCP, 4638 Centre Avenue on July 25, 2012.
PROPOSED FINAL REPORT CONTENTS Scope and Goals of the Report Norman Cleary, head of the studyʼs steering committee, responded to some concerns that the final report might be misconstrued by the school board to be an endorsement of only non-educational reuses for Schenley. He clarified the following: •
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The working assumption at this time is that the school board intends to sell the building. Therefore, the charter for the visioning process, as funded by Councilman Bill Peduto, is to explore the feasibility of reuse options that the community will support. While there is a strong, vocal component within the community that wants Schenley to be reused as a public school, the work needed to explicitly advance that argument is beyond the charter of the steering committee and this visioning process. However, the report will reflect that there is substantial community interest in reuse as a public school. Additionally, the report will provide space for differing and/or alternate opinions and to further make a case for reusing Schenley as a public school. Lastly, some audience members pointed out that “there are many communities represented” in the visioning process, with varying degrees of support for having a school be the priority reuse option.
Recent History The final report will provide an overview of recent decisions (2007-present) affecting the closure and disposition of the building.
Building History and Significance A short history of Schenley High School will highlight both the state-of-the-art design of the building and the schoolʼs progressive curriculum. Building Construction & Systems Sustainable Design Innovative thinking made Schenley a green building ahead of its time. - Natural ventilation - Ample daylighting of classrooms, corridors and stairs - Lasting, low-maintenance building materials Preservation Existing historic designations will be explained along with character-defining features to be retained in order to qualify for historic preservation tax credits. Alternatives Analysis What We Heard—The community meetings and subsequent feedback indicate support for Residential, Educational and Live/Work options. More specifically, we heard the following: Public school: Support Charter / Other educational use: Support Residential (Condo): Support 50+ independent living: Support Residential (Rental): Support (if neighborhood impact properly managed) Live-Work / Incubator for tech/arts: Support for presence in lower levels of building Cultural use for auditorium (possibly at reduced size): Conditional support Communty access to gym/pool: Conditional support Office (single user): No support Office (multi-tenant): No support Benchmark Projects The series of benchmarks that were examined during the visioning process will be summarized. They illustrate a range of reuse options for school buildings applicable to Schenley High School and show how other communities and developers overcame the unique challenges often posed by this building type. Recommendations for the Request for Proposals (RFP) Best practices and benchmarks will be included to help the steering committee develop language for the RFP that has the best hope to attract innovative reuse ideas that include community participation, protect historic features of the building, and vet the financial soundness of the developer and the reuse concept. Financial Incentives & Cost Implications An overview of potential financial incentives that might be available to developers will be included. Appendices Letters regarding reusing Schenley as a public school Meeting minutes and presentation summaries Community blogs and letters (from OPDC) RFP examples Previous studies list / web references
A Community Vision for Schenley High School - Minutes from Community Meeting Three
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FOR MORE INFORMATION & TO SUBMIT ADDITIONAL IDEAS AND COMMENTS Phone: Oakland Planning and Development Corporation 412.621.7863 Email: questions@opdc.org Web: www.opdc.org/programs-services/plan-partner/community-vision-for-the-adaptive-reuse-ofschenley-high-school/
A Community Vision for Schenley High School - Minutes from Community Meeting Three
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