Park View, D.C.

This Saturday (1/28) at 10 a.m., members of the Bruce-Monroe @ Park View School Improvement Team will host a community meeting to inform the community about the current plans to modernize the 94 year old school (click on the image to enlarge the flier).

This is an important project and I encourage anyone and everyone who is interested in education, the Park View community, and/or historic preservation to attend this meeting. You can review the January 17, 2012 concept plan for the modernization prior to the meeting or wait until the presentation for details.

Appropriately, the meeting will be held in the auditorium — which was built to support community programs and events.

I was recently asked why residents who do not have children at the school would need to care about this project. I’ll list three reasons below and trust readers will come up with a few of their own after they read the concept plan.

• There is a need to coordinate the projects at the school and neighboring rec center to maximize the usefulness of public space in the neighborhood. Currently, the school plans dedicate more school greenspace to playground use rather than use the rec center property.
• The school project hopes to improve parking and trash collection at the rear of the property. This area is adjacent to a public alley and residences on 6th Street, NW. These residents need to be involved in any decisions that impact the alley.
• The school’s auditorium was originally built to serve the greater community as public space for plays, concerts and meetings. There are many in the community that would like to see the auditorium support such activities again. Getting involved now will ensure that any renovations to the school will provide the infrastructure needed to support an active, public use of the auditorium.

This is a unique opportunity to participate in improving the community.  I hope to see you there.
(Cross section of the Park View School — east to west through the auditorium — from the original 1915 plans)