Comments on: Strong Support for 5th Avenue as 4/5 Academy?

By: another Rick

another Rick — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:32:29 +0000

Seems to me 5th Ave is a fine location for K -3, but the building needs a demo. That was stated at Wed. mtg. My opinion is that Westchester is not a good location because of Scott Blvd and the floodplain. It should have been a demo when they closed it! (and my children went there). And, no, 1400 children at RMS is not a good idea for all the reason stated above.

I agree with DM that we should hold off for more number crunching. We need to reach a community consensus, if possible (maybe not possible but I sure pray we don’t go through what we did 5 years ago).

By: Zip

Zip — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:06:32 +0000

Glennwood is more central than 5th Ave. If you want to use the standard of ‘distance from the city limits’, Glenwood is just under a 0.5 miles away, while 5th Ave is about 0.2 miles away from the city limits. (In case anyone is wondering, Westchester is about 0.25 miles away and Oakhurst is about 0.35 miles away from the city limits).

Also, I would say a half-mile radius is a pretty easy walk to school. If you drew a half-mile radius around 5th Ave, more than 40 % of the area inside that circle isn’t in the City of Decatur.

By: Decatur Metro

Decatur Metro — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:34:47 +0000

I’m also still a bit wary about the enrollment projections Judd. Ultimately I hope the decision is made to hold off until we can do some better number-crunching…if that is at all possible.

In terms of other current unknowns, another that worries me is the potential of falling birth rates during recessions. Does anyone really think that 2010 births will be anything close to 2007? That could portend lower enrollments by 2015.

By: 5th Ave

5th Ave — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:31:11 +0000

Correct me if I am wrong, but isnt’ Glennwood just a few blocks from the eastern city limits of Decatur just like 5th Avenue is a few blocks from the southwestern city limits of Decatur? Given Glennwood’s location just east of downtown, just north of the rr tracks, and just east of the city limits, I would venture to guess that there are more households within a 4-5 block walkable radius of 5th Ave than Glennwood. But that’s just an educated guess.

By: keylimepie

keylimepie — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:37:47 +0000

What about Winnona as the 4/5? It can be expanded easily and probably more cheaply than either Renfroe or certainly 5th avenue. Then have GW/CL/OA as the K-3s and maybe Westchester as a K-3 if you need it?

Winnona would make a terrific 4/5 academy. It has a great field and it is more central than 5th avenue.