The AJC just posted a nice piece that tells the story of how athletics director Carter Wilson turned his dream of a new sports complex and auditorium at Decatur High into a reality.
If a lesson can be pulled from Wilson’s story, it seems to be: if you can work well with others and learn to compromise, you may one day find yourself and everyone else driving past your daydreams on North McDonough.
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Too bad the writer didn’t take the time to figure out that the facility is located on North McDonough Street, not McDonough Road, especially since there is a sign literally across the street.
It’s interesting how Carter and Valarie Wilson both operate on “dreams” that cost this city millions and millions of dollars. This reminds me of hearing Valarie talk about how she wants to see the $10 million Fifth Avenue “get built” to revitalize her neighborhood.
Just sayin’.
Why is that “interesting”? As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.
And, you get what you vote for.
No, not always!
I’m excited about the revitalization of Fifth Avenue. A dormant school building is bad for the immediate neighborhood and Decatur at large.
CSD Mom, Valarie doesn’t live in the 5th Avenue neighborhood. She lives in MAK. Plus, she doesn’t have any kids that are academy age, so she and Carter have no personal benefit to having a 4/5 at Fifth Avenue.
You must not have middle or high school kids, or you would understand the value of the gym and auditorium. Or maybe YOUR kids don’t take PE or play a gym sport or participate in any sort of performance art. Some folks think that if an expenditure doesn’t help their kids specifically, it shouldn’t happen. Or perhaps you haven’t been to any of the neighboring schools lately to see how badly things were for us before the new facilities. It was a stinky, rat infested mess….. really, really embarrassing.
oops.. I meant how “bad things were…”
CSD Mom,
[edited]
The sports complex was approved by the overwelming majority over voters in the bond referendum a few years ago. Re-opening Fifth Avenue is not only necessary to accommodate a growing school system, but it will help revitalize a community and get rid of a dormant building that has been sitting empty for close to a decade.
You lost the election. Get over it. The people of Decatur ratified the good works of Valarie and Carter Wilson.
If any of you have ever been to the old stadium and gym you will have certainly seen that these upgrades were well past overdo. Now we have a excellent facility our children and community can be proud of and use for many years to come. Valarie and Carter are terrific assets to our schools’ community and in my opinion should be thanked for their service rather than snarked at. You may not always agree with them, but they have worked hard to help make CSD, and DHS a wonderful asset to living in Decatur.
CSD Mom, I’m curious to know a little more about your seeming opposition to the cost of the DHS Sports Complex/Auditorium.
Do you think the project could have been done more efficiently (with regard to $$$)? Do you think it should have been privately funded?
Folks who scoff at the value of dreaming have likely never lived in a community that doesn’t. Trust me, it ain’t pretty.
Carter Wilson didn’t build the complex and send us a bill. He worked the system, sold a vision, and made it happen. To be sure, some people didn’t share the same view but, as it turns out, those people were in the minority. Or, more specifically, they failed to sell a more compelling alternative.
If that’s not an example of the system working, I don’t know what is.
I agree that the auditorium is wonderful. I do have a high schooler using it now and other children who will use it soon, and I’m excited about it. I’m not excited, however, by the $10 million that will be spent to build a school that will likely be too small soon after it is built. Don’t worry–I’m not just aimlessly complaining. I am actively working to find better solutions to our enrollment issues here in Decatur!
Whatever CSD Mom. When you stop ridiculing people pubically who are just trying to improve our city I will believe you. Fed up Westchester parents are now 0-3 in city elections. Next?
Luckily I’m not pubically ridiculing people LOL! Or publicly either. Not ridiculing at all. Just working to ensure that our schools continue to improve for EVERYONE.
CSD Mom says:
November 17, 2009 at 8:57 am
It’s interesting how Carter and Valarie Wilson both operate on “dreams” that cost this city millions and millions of dollars.
Not ridicule?
Maybe our school board members should be satisfied to keep an abandoned school sitting there rotting forever – a former source of community pride now used as a storage facility for excess furniture.
Maybe our high school athletic director should be satisfied that his students use outdated and rat infested facilities which cannot even accommodate girls sports and activities.
If that is the sort of dreams and vision you want our leaders to have in this community, CSD Mom, then I am GLAD that you are not in the majority with that sentiment.
My understanding is that, originally, it wasn’t the idea of any School Board member or CSD Admin to use Fifth Avenue Elementary as a 4/5 Academy site. Not sure about School Board members, but CSD Admin was leaning initially towards putting the 4/5 Academy at Renfroe. It was the reconvened Reconfiguration Committee that first raised the idea of a new option to follow the original ~12 options–that was the 4/5 Academy at Fifth Avenue. It was not necessarily the first choice of all members, but many preferred it to the 4/5 at Renfroe.
Re use of Fifth Avenue building: That has been desired by many for a long time, whether it be used by CSD, Decatur Active Living, or someone else. Having a building empty and decaying for six or seven years is not a good thing.
Re revitalization: It’s always a two-edged sword with no easy answers or perfect approach. It will improve the quality of life for those who can afford to still live there and will profit some but some of the original community will be driven out by high taxes and loss of friends, neighbors, and family.
The cost of Fifth Ave. is not $10M, it’s only budgeted for $8M. The other $2M is to be used for much needed renovations at RMS. At a minimum, these funds will be used to improve/replace the RMS HVAC system, the electrical system (so it can handle new interactive boards, which the system plans to purchase with these funds as well) and to improve the bathrooms. The plan also is to retrofit the old gym into instructional space at some point depending on the funds available.