Do the various schools usually send representatives to the board meetings to share the good work their school is doing? I've watched a few meetings and don't recall that in the past.
Regardless, I was touched and saddened by their words -- I felt like the speakers were pleading for the continued life of their communities in front of heart…
Do the various schools usually send representatives to the board meetings to share the good work their school is doing? I've watched a few meetings and don't recall that in the past.
Regardless, I was touched and saddened by their words -- I felt like the speakers were pleading for the continued life of their communities in front of heartless executioners. But I might have been projecting since I've literally had nightmares about our neighborhood school being the next to close (in the dream I discovered it was because of a shady deal the board had made with a land developer).
Somewhat related question -- is there a way to find out how much the developer who bought Aire Crown in Skokie paid? Seemed like the number I heard for the expected sale of Bessie Rhodes was really low and thought the sale of Aire Crown might make a good comparison.
So the union negotiations started this week, so I think the teachers were there to send a message to the board that they're out there busting their ass for the kids and get some leverage.
Regarding land sales, I'm just starting to dip my toes into this world via the Evanston City Hall plans and oh boy, it's a real dirty business and it's very hard to follow the money because the real estate folks know how to hide things from the public.
I've heard numbers about Bessie Rhodes that range from $1m to $5m for the sale, so I have absolutely no idea what it will sell for. This is like Donald Trump valuing his real estate portfolio...
One issue with selling Bessie Rhodes will be the zoning. It is situated in Skokie and I’m not familiar with the zoning codes. But likely it has some sort of Institutional zoning. To redevelop it for housing or whatever will require re-zoning and approval by the Skokie village board. That opens a whole new can of worms (neighbor objections, etc…). I wonder where they got the valuation estimates for the property from? Same dudes who estimated the school cost or transportation savings?
The Skokie board will approve anything. Aire Crown is a school on Main that's closing at the end of this year -- Skokie approved 5 story apartments with 120 or so units (including some town homes) on the site. Neighbors have been fighting it and I think they have knocked it back to 3 stories and 60 or so units. Very curious what will happen at Bessie Rhodes.
Given the real estate market in Evanston, they have to be licking their chops at closing and selling the real estate of at least one of the north side schools. With the exception of Kingsley, the other three seem to be ideally located for residential real estate. I'm curious how much that factors in their decision on which ones to close.
Do the various schools usually send representatives to the board meetings to share the good work their school is doing? I've watched a few meetings and don't recall that in the past.
Regardless, I was touched and saddened by their words -- I felt like the speakers were pleading for the continued life of their communities in front of heartless executioners. But I might have been projecting since I've literally had nightmares about our neighborhood school being the next to close (in the dream I discovered it was because of a shady deal the board had made with a land developer).
Somewhat related question -- is there a way to find out how much the developer who bought Aire Crown in Skokie paid? Seemed like the number I heard for the expected sale of Bessie Rhodes was really low and thought the sale of Aire Crown might make a good comparison.
So the union negotiations started this week, so I think the teachers were there to send a message to the board that they're out there busting their ass for the kids and get some leverage.
Regarding land sales, I'm just starting to dip my toes into this world via the Evanston City Hall plans and oh boy, it's a real dirty business and it's very hard to follow the money because the real estate folks know how to hide things from the public.
I've heard numbers about Bessie Rhodes that range from $1m to $5m for the sale, so I have absolutely no idea what it will sell for. This is like Donald Trump valuing his real estate portfolio...
One issue with selling Bessie Rhodes will be the zoning. It is situated in Skokie and I’m not familiar with the zoning codes. But likely it has some sort of Institutional zoning. To redevelop it for housing or whatever will require re-zoning and approval by the Skokie village board. That opens a whole new can of worms (neighbor objections, etc…). I wonder where they got the valuation estimates for the property from? Same dudes who estimated the school cost or transportation savings?
The Skokie board will approve anything. Aire Crown is a school on Main that's closing at the end of this year -- Skokie approved 5 story apartments with 120 or so units (including some town homes) on the site. Neighbors have been fighting it and I think they have knocked it back to 3 stories and 60 or so units. Very curious what will happen at Bessie Rhodes.
My guess is that it will look like some of the sites in North Evanston like at Sheridan & Isabella where they subdivide and put in fancy new houses.
Given the real estate market in Evanston, they have to be licking their chops at closing and selling the real estate of at least one of the north side schools. With the exception of Kingsley, the other three seem to be ideally located for residential real estate. I'm curious how much that factors in their decision on which ones to close.