Center for developmentally disabled preschoolers planned at Fort Hayes

Growing center's initial cost to be $1,065,000, with $1 annual rent

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

By Bill Bush, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

A not-for-profit group received approval from the Columbus Board of Education last night to develop a 4.3-acre site at the Fort Hayes campus to serve developmentally disabled preschoolers.  The board approved a 90-year lease with Childhood League Inc., which provides early-childhood educational programs and therapeutic services for children to age 6.

 

The group would make a one-time payment to the district equal to the appraised value of the Downtown land, which stands at $1,065,000.  The district then would deduct any costs that the League would pay for certain improvements, including renovating three unused historic buildings that date to the late 1800s.

 

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/06/08/center-for-developmentally-disabled-preschoolers-planned-at-fort-hayes.html?sid=101

Indianola school upgrade plan scorned

Panel: Building's rich details would be lost

Friday, June 17, 2011

By Bill Bush, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The University Area Commission has "grave concerns" about the Columbus City Schools' renovation of the historic Indianola Middle School and has asked the district to change the $26 million project.  "These are some magnificent rooms that hearken back to a different time," said commission President Ian MacConnell.

 

The district's head of facilities said the plan is not final and she is willing to get more public input.  "We're well aware of the historic importance of the building," said Carole Olshavsky, the district executive in charge of the school-rebuilding project.  It will combine the district's K-8 French and Spanish immersion schools into one building.

. . .

 

Design decisions on the school, just northwest of the state fairgrounds at 420 E. 19th Ave., won't be final until this fall, Olshavsky said.  The school is on the National Register of Historic Places, and exterior changes must be approved by the Columbus Historic Resources Commission.

 

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/06/17/school-upgrade-plan-scorned.html?sid=101

Columbus puts school buildings on sale as law requires

Three vacant elementaries now available for bid at appraised value

By Bill Bush,The Columbus Dispatch

Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - 4:23 AM

 

Charter schools will have a shot at buying any of three vacant elementary school buildings from Columbus City Schools, provided they can pay the asking price of $1.3 million to $1.9 million, and spend plenty in needed repairs.  Two of the buildings are on the South Side; the third on the Near East Side.  The state legislature has forced the district’s hand in the sales: Under the state budget bill that took effect in July, Ohio law now requires school districts to offer any building that has been vacant for two years or more to charter schools for sale or lease.

(. . .)

For sale are:

 

• Clarfield Elementary, 3220 Groveport Rd. Minimum bid: $1.29 million. -- The three-story Clarfield has been closed since 2007 but was used as temporary “swing space” until 2009, to house students as other schools were renovated.  Built in 1929, with three additions in the ’60s and ’70s, it is 39,934 square feet, including 23 classrooms, on 7.7 acres.  There is no air conditioning or elevator.

 

• Koebel Elementary, 2521 Fairwood Ave. Minimum bid: $1.9 million. -- This 30,738-square-foot facility closed in 2006 and was last used as swing space in 2008.  It has 17 classrooms on 10 acres.  It was constructed in 1964, with two later additions.  The single-story building has no air conditioning.

 

• Pilgrim Elementary, 440 Taylor Ave. on the Near East Side. Minimum bid: $1.53 million. -- This 36,220-square-foot building closed in 2004 and last was used as swing space in 2008.  The 1922 two-story facility has two additions.  It has 17 classrooms and a 3.2-acre site.  There is no elevator or air conditioning.

 

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/09/07/columbus-puts-schools-on-sale-as-law-requires.html

New Linden-McKinley slowly comes on line

By: Bill Bush, The Columbus Dispatch

January 11, 2012 - 13:01 PM

 

Some 700 students moved back into the Columbus City Schools' latest renovated building, Linden-McKinley STEM School, on Jan. 4, but the building reopened without a gym, auditiorium, stadium, kitchen or fully functioning fire-suppression system, city and district officials said.  But the district took the necessary steps -- including hiring a firefighter to stand "fire watch" during the day until the fire system was certified last Saturday -- in order to occupy the building until its finished.

(. . .)

District spokesman Jeff Warner said that project should be mostly completed by mid-February and entirely completed by the following month.  The kitchen received its final health inspection and was cleared for operation Tuesday.  Before that, food was being trucked in.  The building has an auxiliary gym that is open while the main gym floor is completed, and "obviously we don't need the stadium" until warmer weather, he said.

(. . .)

The $34 million Linden-McKinley, for grades 7-12, is a historic renovation and addition and is the latest building to reopen as part of the distict's $700 million construction venture co-funded by the state that will have built new or upgraded 45 buildings when it is completed in 2014.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/the-eteam/2012/01/linden-mckinley-222.html

 

---

An earlier October 2011 article about the Linden McKinley STEM School: Fresh school, fresh start - Linden-McKinley leaders hope a $34 million face-lift will inspire students, help reverse behavioral problems

 

CCS Webpage for Linden-McKinley 7-12 STEM Academy

A proposed land swap deal between Columbus Public Schools and the City of Columbus emerged yesterday.  Initially from Business First and then (with some more detail) from the Dispatch.  Here are the two articles from each source:

 

Business First: Africentric may be moved in city-school system land swap

 

Columbus Dispatch: Africentric looks East

 

 

Here is the outline of the proposed land swap between Columbus Public Schools and the City of Columbus:

• Columbus Public Schools would get the city-owned the 52-acre former Woodland Meadows apartment complex on the East Side located between Bexley and Whitehall.  Woodland Meadows is currently vacant green space since the previously condemned apartments were demolished by the city in 2008.  The land became city-owned as part of a court settlement involving code violations with the previous owner.  CPS would build a new school on the property for the existing Africentric school located at 300 E. Livingston Avenue.  After the Africentric school moves, CPS would then sell the existing 22-acre Africentric site located between Livingston and I-70/71.

• The City of Columbus would get the Reeb Elementary School property at 280 Reeb Avenue.  This is a 2-acre site on the city's south side located one block west of Parsons Avenue.  The existing historic school building on the property was last used as the Southwood Elementary School.  CPS vacated the building in 2009 when it moved Southwood Elementary into another location.  The City would renovate the Reeb Elementary building into a community center for the south side.  The new community center would replace the existing South Side Settlement House and would serve as a new home for the South Side Learning & Development Center - both of which are located within one block of Reeb Elementary.

 

Below is a graphic showing the locations of the three properties involved in this City-Columbus Schools land swap:

 

 

The above graphic from the Dispatch article did contain one error regarding the Africentric property.  It showed the Africentric property extending to Parsons Avenue on Livingston.  The Africentric property actually stops short of the Parsons & Livingston intersection.  That corner property is being redeveloped by Children's Hospital.  That NW corner is part of the hospital's West Campus expansion.  A six-story medical research building is currently under construction.  Below is a GIS map that shows the boundaries (outline in blue) of the Africentric school property on Livingston Avenue:

 

 

Below is a closer GIS map of the Africentric school property on Livingston Avenue.  The 22-acre property contains a three-story school building on the westernmost edge of the property.  The remainder of the property consists of parking lots and athletic fields.  The 22-acre property is bisected by Grant Avenue:

The Woodland Meadows site certainly isn't as central as the current Africentric location. Wonder if that will be a detriment to current students attending...

Columbus City Schools announced they will be closing five schools at the end of this school year.  Below is a map that shows the locations of these schools - with the exception of Independence High School (#2 on the map) and Siebert Elementary (#7 on the map).  Independence and Siebert were originally recommended to be closed but will remain open:

 

 

Five Columbus City Schools To Close

UPDATED: Tuesday March 4, 2014 - 11:49 PM

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Five Columbus City Schools will close at the end of the school year.

 

The Columbus School Consolidation team suggested the Board of Education close Arlington Park Elementary, Brookhaven High School, Maybury Elementary School and Monroe Middle School.  It also recommended closing Fifth Avenue K-6 Elementary but reopen in another building.

 

Board members voted unanimously to accept the team's recommendation Tuesday night.

 

MORE: http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2014/03/04/columbus-city-schools-votes-to-close-five-schools.html

A very nice looking 110-year-old building on the grounds of Clinton Elementary School is scheduled to be demolished by Columbus City Schools.  The two-story building - known as the Clinton Annex - was last used in the late 2000's when the Clinton Elementary School at the intersection of N. High Street and Clinton Heights Avenue was being renovated.  Since then the Clinton Annex was been vacant and is not in the school district's long range plans.  Below are some links to more information about this:

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/should-clinton-annex-be-saved

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/clintonville/news/2014/04/21/cacs-letter-futile-clinton-annex-soon-will-be-razed.html

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/clintonville/news/2014/04/25/rally-to-prevent-annex-demolition-set-for-april-28.html

 

 

Columbus Underground also had more about the possible fate of the Clinton Annex and a photo of the protest to save the building:

 

 

School Issues: The Clinton Conundrum

By Miriam Bowers Abbott, Columbus Underground

May 11, 2014 - 2:02 pm

 

On December 17, 2013, the Board of Education for Columbus City Schools approved a measure to demolish a 1904 annex at Clinton Elementary School. Regarding the agenda item, there were no comments from the community that evening.  The issue passed easily with a 5-1 vote.  Only member Mike Wiles voted against the demolition proposal.

 

The vote signaled the end of a decade-long discussion. According to CCS administrator Carol Olshavsky’s testimony at the meeting, the district had spent eleven years searching for a purpose for the annex building.  Failing to identify a purpose, the district opted for demolition.

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/school-issues-the-clinton-conundrum-ma1

I don't understand why they don't just sell it instead of demolishing it. I live not very far from it and the area seems to have a good demand for residential. I could easily see the building reused as apartments.

^My guess is that is has to do with state laws regarding disposition of school property (must first be offered to charter schools) and needs of the school site (maintaining acreage required by OSFC, property access, student safety, etc.).

 

 

I didn't know that it must first be offered to a charter school. Thanks!

More about the two-story building - known as the Clinton Annex - located behind the Clinton Elementary School at the intersection of N. High Street and Clinton Heights Avenue that I posted about earlier.

 

At the end of Summit Street's recent Columbus phototour at http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,29305.0.html were two more photos of the Clinton Annex building and a photo of the addition to the recently renovated Clinton Elementary School.  In that thread, UrbanSurfin had this reply regarding the pending demolition of the Clinton Annex building (former Clinton Township High School) by Columbus City Schools:

 

This building would not be replaced -- the replacement is the complete renovation and tasteful addition of the adjacent main building.  I'd like to see it renovated, but it's not so simple.  Read my blog post about it: http://bwilli910.wordpress.com/2014/05/22/clinton-township-high-school-a-tough-call/

Last week, Columbus City Schools went ahead with the demoltion of the two-story Clinton Annex building.  Photo of the demolition is at http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/should-clinton-annex-be-saved/page/2.

 

This Week News also had a photo of the building just prior to its demolition at http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/clintonville/news/2014/06/09/annexs-last-stand.html.  That photo, and the brief caption, shows that the stone entrance piece surrounding the front entrance was removed prior to demolition.  According to Columbus City Schools, the stone entrance piece will be incorporated into the Clinton Elementary School's playground that will replace the Clinton Annex building.

Columbus City Schools announced they will be closing five schools at the end of this school year.  Below is a map that shows the locations of these schools - with the exception of Independence High School (#2 on the map) and Siebert Elementary (#7 on the map).  Independence and Siebert were originally recommended to be closed but will remain open:

 

My son has attended Fifth Avenue International the past two years (Kindergarten and 1st Grade) and we've had a great experience there. The school was too small for the building because it was a K-8 school, and the relocated grades 7 and 8 to the International High School two years ago, leaving the third floor of the building unused. Go figure.

 

This year it's moving to the Hubbard School building, which is smaller… almost a little too tight. The transition has been a roller coaster, as they've made some good changes (new Master learning program) some bad changes (firing all of the teachers and telling them they can re-apply for new jobs, and then only interviewing 2 of them out of around 40) and some weird changes (attempting to change to a NW region lottery instead of city-wide lottery, thus excluding many students from international backgrounds from applying — but we got them to change it back).

 

My wife and I are getting very heavily involved in this school (she is on the PTA next year) and our daughter will be starting Pre-K there this year in addition to our 2nd grader son. We think it can become a model urban school in the heart of Victorian Village. Hopefully we can rally more support and create a sense of community pride, whereas currently most people in the inner city don't even know this school is an option.

 

It doesn't score the best on standardized test, but we're looking to change that through tutoring assistance. On the flip side, they teach Mandarin Chinese to all grade levels and focus on training students to be good global citizens with a solid understand of all cultures, countries and people.

Great personal story Walker.  It's great to see that you, Anne and your two kids are doing well in King-Lincoln. 

 

I've often wondered if couples with children could be another wave in the redevelopment of Columbus' near downtown neighborhoods.  Much like in other cities, different demographic groups have tended to lead the way.  You've got the "rugged individualist" types like artists, rehabbers and those looking for a bargain and/or a challenge.  You've got the DINK's (Dual Income No Kids) both gay and straight, who can afford to move in once a neighborhood prices upward.  Plus older empty nesters who want to buy into a urban lifestyle after their children move out. 

 

There's probably others who add to the diversity and distinctiveness of the Columbus urban neighborhoods, but those are the three main groups I can think of right now.  The one characteristic these three groups share, is no children.  So moving into a neighborhood with underpreforming schools is not an issue.  But for demographic groups with children, school quality is obviously a huge issue.  And it's one reason why there's a push by CPS and the City to improve school quality.  If CPS school quality doesn't improve, upper income families with children will be tempted to move into suburban school districts.

I think people (of all demographics) are much more willing to be "pioneers" (not a big fan of that word, but whatever) in moving into a run-down home in a run-down neighborhood and helping to improve things than they are to be a "pioneer" in a poor-performing school. There's a certain amount of appeal to fixing up neighborhoods, but getting involved in a school system that needs help is just a much harder task. No one wants to send their kids to a place where they're not confident they will get a good education.

 

We weren't willing to do this with the neighborhood schools in our own neighborhood as they're some of the worst in the entire district. Instead, we picked a school that has a better place to start from, but still needs help from individuals, families and the community around it. Once that begins to improve, and there's a bit of a system/network of involved parents in place, it gets easier to add more people to the mix.

 

That model seems to have worked well in Clintonville (the "Go Public" group) and a similar group is working in German/Merion Village ("South Side Stay"). We're still early in the process for 5th Avenue / Hubbard / Victorian Village, but I think we'll see rapid success once we start rallying some troops. ;)

 

My wife put together an end-of-the-year party last year to thank all of the teachers, staff and parents and managed to raise over $7000 in cash and supplies from developers in the area and other community members and businesses. All the students and families were invited and everything was free (food, drinks, cotton candy, pony rides, magician, bounce houses, food trucks, Jeni's ice cream, games, prizes, etc). The look on some of the kids' faces when they learned that things were free (keep in mind that there are many from impoverished households) was priceless and amazing. We had around 1000 people attend that day over the course of 5 hours (a few photos, below).

 

Looking forward to doing more of the same for the 2014-2015 year and getting the North Market involved in food education, team members of the Columbus Crew to drop by for gym class, and getting well known entrepreneurs there on career day (working on Cameron Mitchell right now). ;)

 

<img src="https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/10268458_10152244233283375_6075012189068184537_n.jpg">

 

<img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/1505102_10152244233093375_2065382437116357066_n.jpg?oh=527181b748e4fc11e45a21684df98a0d&oe=54529E72&__gda__=1414205218_b973f106ed4bd19e51039d4f67321185">

 

<img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/10365801_10152244233523375_2216181194825827694_n.jpg">

Final Plan for Columbus City School’s Facilities Moves Forward

 

 

The final meeting of the Columbus City School Board’s Ad Hoc Facilities Planning Committee was held last night in order to review the recommendations for the 2016 Facilities Master Plan Update. It remains an ambitious plan (the first segment at a cost of $364.5M), as many of the district’s buildings are in need of renovation and/or replacement. High Schools have been taken off of the discussion table, as Board Member Dominic Paretti says, “Six months is not enough time to have a discussion in our communities about high schools.”

 

All elementary school buildings are being made ready for preK.

 

There are 18 buildings in the first two rounds of replacement/renovation, the first few being Colerain ($17.4M), West Broad to be replaced on current site with architectural elements preserved ($17.3M), North Linden ($14.9M), and Maize Elementary Schools ($14.8M), and Johnson Park Middle School ($20.2M).

 

More below:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/final-plan-for-columbus-city-schools-facilities-moves-forward

The Ecole Kenwood French Immersion School near Riverside Hospital and the Columbus Spanish Immersion at Cooke and Karl have opened in their new buildings for the 2016-17 school year:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/08/21/new-french-spanish-immersion-schools-open-in-larger-tech-filled-buildings.html

Multiple posts to catch up with Columbus City School District news from 2016:

 

The first one is an historic renovation project completed in 2015 in German Village (and documented over in that thread at http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,7048.msg738249.html#msg738249 and at http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,7048.msg740085.html#msg740085).  This is a follow-up article about the renovated school's LEED certification from Green Building News:

 

 

Columbus Elementary School Achieves LEED Silver

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The 142-year-old Stewart Alternative Elementary School in Columbus reopened in January 2015 after undergoing an extensive renovation. About seven months later the project’s use of green building techniques helped it earn LEED Silver certification in August 2015.

 

The school was originally built in 1874, with its most recent renovation completed in 1926.  Although much time had passed since the school’s last improvement, the Columbus City School District had actually planned to renovate the building at a later date, but a 2010 fire required the district to update the building sooner than anticipated.

 

Columbus-based architectural firm Hardlines Design Company served as the lead architect on the $11.2 million project, which included a complete renovation of the existing 28,000-square-foot building and construction of a new 18,000-square-foot addition.  Since the structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings, the design needed to replicate the original building as much as possible.

 

MORE: http://www.greenbuildingnews.com/articles/2016/03/1/columbus-elementary-school-achieves-leed-silver

Much of 2016 was spent creating a new building facilities plan for the school district.  This would eventually guide a new levy request in November 2016.  Here's the building facilities part:

 

April 10, 2016:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/public-being-asked-for-input-on-future-plan-for-columbus-city-schools

 

April 10, 2016:  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/04/10/up-to-6-columbus-high-schools-could-close.html

 

---

Later update from the School Board:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/04/19/0419-ccs-board.html

 

---

Final recommendations from the Advisory Panel:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/06/06/advisory-panel-recommends-rehab-of-18-columbus-schools-buildings.html

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/final-plan-for-columbus-city-schools-facilities-moves-forward

Those final recommendations from the Advisory Panel - and later passed by the School Board - included the historic renovation of the existing Everett Middle School Building located in the Victorian Village neighborhood:

 

The levy request:

 

Columbus City School Board Places Levy on November Ballot:

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/2016-columbus-city-school-levy-ls1

 

Three-part CU series on the levy request:

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-city-schools-levy-by-the-numbers-ma1

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-city-schools-levy-by-the-numbers-part-two-ma1

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-city-schools-levy-by-the-numbers-part-three-ma1

Levy passes by a 60-40 margin: :clap:

 

Columbus Passes School Levy

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-passes-school-levy-ls1

But the big school development news is currently the imminent opening (January 2017) of the new Africentric School campus.  This is a project that's been in the works since 2012 - when the City and the School District agreed to a property swap.  The details of the property swap was posted HERE in this thread.  But basically it had these three components:

 

1) It allowed the City to acquire the historic Reeb Elementary School on the city's south side - which was then renovated into a community center to support a neighborhood revitalization effort.

 

2) The School District then acquired the former Woodland Meadows site from the City.  Which allowed them to move the Africentric School from the smaller 22-acre former Mohawk Middle School south of downtown next to I-70/71 and onto a larger 55-acre campus at Woodland Meadows on the near east side.

 

3) The School District then sold this prime downtown development spot to Children's Hospital.  Children's Hospital is currently expanding its campus development on part of this land and will continue another phase once Africentric completes its move in January. 

 

Here is an article about the start of construction at the Woodland Meadows location from 2014 and some site diagrams showing the new Africentric campus layout:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/07/16/Africentric_school_starts_construction.html

 

 

This site originally had a number of two-story apartment buildings - until a previous owner let the property deteriorate to the point that code enforcement and the courts had to intervene.  After an ice storm and power outage destroyed most of the interior pipes, the owner abandoned the property and the City took ownership, demolishing all the buildings on the site.  This is how the Woodland Meadows site was prior to the Africentric construction:

 

 

This is the general concept for the new Africentric campus on the site:

 

 

This is the general layout for the buildings and facilities of the Africentric campus on the site:

The final campus layout got modified a bit, but generally stayed with the original concept from the previous post.  Here is an aerial rendering of the final campus layout:

 

 

Here is a rendering of the main Africentic School Building:

 

 

Photo from 2015 showing the main Africentic school building and main gymnasium building under construction:

Earlier this week, the Dispatch ran a story about the nearly completed Africentric School campus that included some updated construction photos.  Below is the link to the full article and some of the photos:

 

New Africentric campus impresses school’s founder

 

Panorama of the main school building:

 

Close-up of the main entrance:

 

Interior view of the main entrance lobby (plus project manager):

 

Interior of one of the two gyms on the campus (plus project manager):

 

Part of a double height hallway in the main school building:

^ It is truly a beautiful, and impressive facility - but Africentric is consistently one of the worst-performing schools in the district academically (and within CPS that's saying something). They've also been plagued with high rates of teacher and admin turnover, as well as much-publicized incidents of student and staff behavior problems.

 

I hope moving to the new campus is bundled together with a new focus on redoubling efforts to make Africentric a high-achieving school of choice within CPS, that is also a safe and healthy environment for both those who work and are enrolled there.

^ It is truly a beautiful, and impressive facility - but Africentric is consistently one of the worst-performing schools in the district academically (and within CPS that's saying something). They've also been plagued with high rates of teacher and admin turnover, as well as much-publicized incidents of student and staff behavior problems.

 

I hope moving to the new campus is bundled together with a new focus on redoubling efforts to make Africentric a high-achieving school of choice within CPS, that is also a safe and healthy environment for both those who work and are enrolled there.

 

This may sound like a dumb question, but as a "school of choice," what is its niche? What does it offer that students supposedly cannot get at their neighborhood public high school?

This may sound like a dumb question, but as a "school of choice," what is its niche? What does it offer that students supposedly cannot get at their neighborhood public high school?

 

Africentric is one of the many city-wide Alternative schools in CPS, and is actually K-12, not just a high school.

 

It's most unique aspect is providing education from an "African-centered" perspective. Students can also take college level courses beginning at grade 9 and earn an associates degree from Columbus State by the time that they graduate. Additionally, the students are required to wear uniforms. Those are all somewhat different from what you would get at one of the standard neighborhood schools.

 

Now, how useful or successful of a program this has been is debatable, but that's what's on offer. More about how they define "African-centered" and what that means for the curriculum is here, http://filecabinet6.eschoolview.com/D24230E2-CA90-4EDD-BDAD-C9C8BE934F5D/Africentric.pdf

 

Columbus Public Schools recently sold three surplus school buildings.  Two buildings were sold to charter schools (including Indianola Elementary which was sold to a charter that was already operating in the building).  Another building adjacent to Ohio Dominican University was sold to an affiliate of the university.  Above is a map of the properties sold, below is the article link:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170404/columbus-schools-sell-2-buildings-to-charter-3rd-to-another-buyer

 

City school board approves $343,000 for new West High cupola

By Bill Bush, The Columbus Dispatch

Updated: May 16, 2017 at 8:37 PM

 

The cupola that towered over the entrance to the 90-year-old West High School was unceremoniously pulled off the building last August, with Columbus City Schools saying the decaying wooden tower had become a hazard that it didn’t have money to fix.

 

But the Board of Education on Tuesday night found $343,000 to replace the cupola, saying it was an important Hilltop symbol.  One board member, Mary Jo Hudson, pressed district officials on whether the decision would mean more pressing problems at West High - like leaking roofs, and a poor heating and ventilating system - would be put on a back burner.

 

She was assured the cupola money is being taken from a fund holding the proceeds from the sale of unused district schools and won’t affect other projects at West High.  A recent roof leak at West High turned out to be from clogged gutters, and an improved heating and air-conditioning system for the building is being studied, said Alex Trevino, director of capital improvements.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170516/city-school-board-approves-343000-for-new-west-high-cupola

Columbus City Schools Auctions Three Sites; Chicago Developer Among Buyers

 

Columbus City Schools auctioned off three prominent properties on Tuesday. Nationwide Children’s Hospital bought the former Africentric school on Livingston Avenue, local company Galbreath Properties bought the Maennerchor building in the Brewery District, and Chicago-based developer Clark Street Holdings bought 1300 Forsythe Ave., a three-acre site on West Fifth Avenue that most recently held the music industry career center Groove U.

 

The 7.5-acre Africentric site went for the appraised value/starting bid of $15.025 million. It marks the latest in a long string of real estate purchases for the hospital. The result has been a rapidly expanding campus, particularly along the Livingston Avenue corridor.

 

More below:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-city-schools-auctions-three-sites-chicago-developer-among-buyers-bw1

 

In 2016, the cupola that topped West High School for 90 years was removed because of deterioration.  The plan was to make repairs to the original cupola, but they found the deterioration was too far gone for that.  Instead they built a steel-reinforced fiberglass replica of the original wood cupola and reinstalled it last week.

 

Below is a photo of the reinstallation and photo of the new cupola in place atop West High School from https://www.facebook.com/WestHighSchool/

 

Photo from last week's lighting ceremony for the new West High cupola:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180413/new-cupola-graces-worn-but-proud-west-high-school-on-hilltop

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180529/under-different-plans-columbus-schools-could-be-fixed-and-then-shuttered

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20180529/under-different-plans-columbus-schools-could-be-fixed-and-then-shuttered

 

This recent story in the Dispatch (which can also be freely read at the non-paywall ThisWeekNews site) reports that Columbus City Schools is again assessing their school building portfolio to see if any buildings should be closed.  However, a complicating factor is using the criteria laid out in this assessment might result in the closing of some recently renovated school buildings:

 

-- Since the district voters passed a $125-million levy in November 2016, the school district has been hammering away at the goal of improving 37 elementary schools, 13 middle schools and 15 high schools, which have received or are due for new roofs, security systems, heating and ventilation overhauls, fire alarm replacements, lighting and electrical system upgrades.

 

-- But in May 2018, the district presented a Facilities Task Force made up of community and business volunteers with metrics designed to help determine which buildings to close.  A chart covering each building includes four criteria: (1)its four-year average enrollment; (2)the percentage of its student capacity that is being utilized; (3)the physical condition of the building; and (4)how many of the students assigned to the school chose to attend another building.

 

-- Five elementary schools, four middle schools and one high school, Beechcroft, failed to meet any of the four standards.  Even worse, East High School, Champion Middle School and nine elementary schools are under-enrolled, underutilized and unpopular, but in excellent condition because the district recently spent tens of millions of dollars to refurbish them.

 

-- East High School is the most extreme example.  It is one of the crown jewels of the district’s inventory of buildings after a $30 million historic renovation that returned it to its 1920's splendor in 2009.  The district was planning for East High to house up to 1,000 students.  However, East High is currently at half of its capacity, with 59 percent of East’s assigned students not attending and going to charter schools, private-voucher schools and the district’s own “alternative school” open-enrollment system instead.

 

-- The above linked articles contain a full listing of the district building portfolio and the four criteria.  The Board of Education has asked the task force to deliver a school-closing recommendation list by late summer.

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180611/columbus-schools-to-bid-for-former-ecot-headquarters-building

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20180611/columbus-schools-to-bid-for-former-ecot-headquarters-building

 

Another potential Columbus Schools building facility issue was reported on today (and can also be freely read at the non-paywall ThisWeekNews site).  The Board of Education on Monday approved its treasurer to bid on buying ECOT’s former South Side headquarters building at auction Tuesday for use as a district administrative building.

 

The 138,000-square-foot building on 26.5 acres at 3700 S. High Street was recently renovated by ECOT from its former use as the Southland Mall.  The former ECOT headquarters includes executive suites, boardrooms, classroom space, theaters, kitchen lab & testing space, server rooms, and a “redundant power generation” system featuring two 500-kilowatt diesel generators, according to an auction site set up to sell the building, the furniture and other contents.  This internet-only auction showed the property fetching a bid of just over $1.6 million Monday evening with about 15 hours left to bid.

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180612/sold-city-schools-wins-auction-for-shuttered-ecot-headquarters

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20180612/sold-city-schools-wins-auction-for-shuttered-ecot-headquarters

 

Columbus City Schools won an on-line auction today for ECOT’s former South Side headquarters at 3700 S. High Street.  The 138,000-square-foot building on 26.5 acres was sold for the district's bid of $3,155,500, but fees should bring the total to $3,471,050.

 

The ECOT building purchase could provide savings through consolidation of existing administrative sites in the district by allowing it to close and sell some current locations.  Two district administrative facilities on 17th Avenue and Hudson Street alone could generate an estimated $6.1 million, according to the article.  Academic offices at the Linmoor Education Center in Linden, across I-71 from the Ohio State Fairgrounds, could also consolidate into the ECOT building.

^ I was kinda hopeful that this purchase of the ECOT building might mean that Columbus Schools would move from their current downtown offices at the northeast corner of 5th & State (270 E. State Street).  Below is an aerial view of the downtown property from the Auditor's website.  Their downtown property takes up almost an entire half-block:

 

 

The property includes this urban renewal era three-story building at the corner of 5th & State.  With the remainder of the property occupied by a surface parking lot.  Recently a six-story, 220-unit mixed-use buiding was approved across the street from this Columbus Schools property - https://www.urbanohio.com/forum/index.php/topic,13250.msg890575.html#msg890575.  With the red-hot development market in Columbus, this downtown property would probably fetch a pretty penny for the school district - if they were to sell it:

^ The little building behind the church on the same block is also CPS admin offices

I think civic uses should be downtown - government offices, post office, library, etc. I think the school offices should stay put. There are a lot of parents, myself included, who need to visit the office for a variety of reasons.

Appraisal of the State & Fifth downtown property says it is worth $4.59 million.  One school board member would support selling it and moving its administrative functions to the nearby Fort Hayes campus:

 

---

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180620/columbus-schools-administrative-buildings-worth-lot-appraisal-shows

 

-- The Columbus City Schools downtown administrative building would fetch an estimated $4.59 million, an appraisal says.

 

-- Though the district has no plans to sell the 49,000-square-foot, three-story building at 270 E. State Street, which is on 1.8 acres that encompass almost an entire block near the OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, an advisory panel is reviewing all district property to determine what should be shuttered and sold, including schools.

 

-- At least one school board member, Dominic Paretti, has supported the idea of selling the administrative building constructed in 1960, then relocating the superintendent and 125 administrators to the Fort Hayes campus near Downtown.

^I thought district were moving to the old ECOT offices on South High?

According to the Dispatch article: "The district has suggested that two sites — the Hudson Distribution Center and the Seventeenth Avenue Service Center, both on the North Side — might be sold and their employees moved to the ECOT building."

 

That would be a like-for-like moving of support personnel from the two smaller buildings into the larger ECOT building.  I sort of obliquely wondered if the downtown offices would also be moving into the ECOT building.  But Pablo makes a good point about the downtown offices hosting school board public meetings - and that should probably stay in a centralized downtown location.  Although I do like the idea of shifting them into the downtown-adjacent Fort Hayes location, if the district's State Street property were ever sold.

... I do like the idea of shifting them into the downtown-adjacent Fort Hayes location, if the district's State Street property were ever sold.

 

I still like this idea the existing downtown offices and school board meeting room into the downtown-adjacent Fort Hayes campus.  Columbus Schools has been redeveloping this former Ohio National Guard base for many years.  In yesterday's Dispatch, there was a news item about another redevelopment into city school functions at Fort Hayes:

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20180813/columbus-schools-new-enrollment-center-helps-families-find-services-quickly

 

Columbus Schools created a new Central Enrollment Center from an abandoned 40,000-square-foot Ohio National Guard garage and office building at 430 Cleveland Avenue on the Fort Hayes campus.  The Enrollment Center is a $5 million renovation project that will centralize and professionalize the attendance-data work that used to be done at more than a hundred school buildings around the city.  The district recently marked the completed project before the opening of the 2018-19 school year.

Some location maps and images of the new Central Enrollment Center at 430 Cleveland Avenue on the Fort Hayes campus:

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20180813/columbus-schools-new-enrollment-center-helps-families-find-services-quickly

 

---

Here are two location maps for the 430 Cleveland Avenue CEC on the Fort Hayes Campus.  The former Ohio National Guard base is just as centrally located in Columbus as the E. State Street district offices:

 

 

The Fort Hayes campus is also located across I-670 from the Columbus State Community College campus (which is located in the northeast sector of Downtown Columbus).  This is more visible in this closer view:

 

 

This is an aerial showing most of the Fort Hayes campus.  The campus is part of a pocket of property formed by two sections of I-670 to the north and south and I-71 to the east.  Fort Hayes makes up about 2/3 of the property in this pocket.  The other two property owners in this pocket are the Kroger Bakery and Abbott Labs located across Cleveland Avenue from Fort Hayes. --- The 40,000-square-foot Ohio National Guard garage and office building at 430 Cleveland Avenue that was renovated into the district's new Central Enrollment Center is labeled on this aerial:

 

 

Exterior view of the new Central Enrollment Center:

 

 

View of the main waiting room inside the Central Enrollment Center:

http://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20180830/advisory-panel-recommends-columbus-school-closings-and-relocations

 

A citizens advisory panel set up by Columbus City Schools released its initial recommendations for school closings and relocations.  Although the headline makes it seem like a bunch of schools are closing, its really more of a reorganization of students from one existing school to another instead of a rash of buildings closing up.

 

Two existing high school buildings would be converted into middle schools (Marion-Franklin & Linden-McKinley), with the Marion-Franklin students moving into South High School and the Linden-McKinley students moving into East High School.  Here are the full recommendations of the Facilities Task Force:

• Close Marion-Franklin High School on the South Side and transfer its 9th- through 12th-grade students to the underutilized but renovated South High School, also on the South Side.

• Convert the current Marion-Franklin High School building into a new middle school, doing away with the district’s current grade 7-12 program at South High. The combined Marion-Franklin/South school would be grades 9-12 only.

• Close Linden-McKinley STEM Academy in Linden and move its ninth- through 12th-grade students to the underutilized but renovated East High School on the Near East Side.

• Convert the current Linden-McKinley high school building into a new middle school, which would also house English as a Second Language students now currently at Medina and Mifflin middle schools.

• Close Siebert Elementary on the South Side, with its students going to Southwood and Stewart elementaries.

• Close Mifflin Middle School on the North Side, moving its students in grades six to nine to Medina Middle School in North Linden, adjusting enrollments at their feeder elementaries from K-6 to PreK-5.

• Close Buckeye Middle School on the South Side, with its students transferring into the new Marion-Franklin Middle School along with sixth-graders reassigned from six South Side elementaries.

• Move Columbus North International, in the former North High School building in Clintonville, into the former Brookhaven High School, where it would share space with Columbus Global Academy, already located there.

• Move the overcrowded Dominion Middle School in Clintonville into the vacated former North High School building, while adding three new language-immersion programs there.

• Adjust the attendance boundaries of numerous schools throughout the district.

The full plan will be available on the district’s website at https://www.ccsoh.us.  The citizen task force vote sets in motion a series of public meetings on September 10, 11, 13 and 20.  The task force will reconvene in early October to consider public input and vote on a final recommendation to the school board.

A lot of these changes make sense, except I would prioritize moving Columbus Alternative High School into a different building. Either Linden-McKinley (which was prioritized for a lavish renovation under former superintendent Gene Harris despite cratering attendance and neighborhood demographics) or North High would be better options for CAHS than their proposed uses as middle schools