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Don't panic, but there is a need to plan
to prevent the destruction of Safety Harbor's historic elementary
school and its unique auditorium. Local parents, teachers, school
officials, elected city officials and city staff already are
beginning to organize to preserve the building as the county school
board addresses the need to replace the overcrowded school.
Ironically, the early efforts come just as the city is clashing
with the school board over plans to locate a massive bus terminal
next to the Briar Creek Mobile Home community on McMullen Booth
Road. That decision will be made in the next few months, while the
fate of the school may not be decided for several years. City
commissioners unanimously have supported residents of Briar Creek,
who are concerned about noise and light pollution as well as
possible contamination of the air with diesel fumes and exhaust.
With Clearwater controlling the land in question, there may be
little legal standing for Safety Harbor. However, Briar Creek
residents learned last year that county officials will respond to
massive citizen turnout. After years of denials, a traffic light
was finally approved at the community's sole entrance on McMullen
Booth. Key to that agreement was the city's willingness to pay for
the light.
While the fate of the bus terminal remains
an open question, the controversy regarding the Briar Creek traffic
light offers lessons that are of importance in considering how to
argue for preservation of the old school building. First, years of
planning likely are necessary. Briar Creek residents sought a
traffic light for nearly 20 years. Victory finally came in 2005
after 71 Briar Creek residents, all of Safety Harbor's elected
commissioners and top city staff appeared before the Pinellas
County Metropolitan Planning Organization, which controls road
planning and traffic signals. Even with the city footing the bill
and agreement from the county, the light only now is being
installed, nearly two years later.
Second, city funding almost certainly will
be involved. The school board is looking for money-saving ideas,
not additional expenditures. Even the school bus terminal
controversy centers around money as the school board seeks to
reduce its fuel bills. On the positive side, nearly everyone agrees
Safety Harbor Elementary needs improvement. It is significantly
over capacity and relies on a small village of portable units to
provide enough classrooms to accommodate enrollment of almost 700
students. The school board's five-year plan calls for replacing
the school as it did just a few years ago with Safety Harbor Middle
School. Unfortunately, part of the school system's moneysaving
strategy has been to reuse blueprints from recent projects to
construct similar new schools. Consequently, Safety Harbor Middle
and Dunedin Middle schools are nearly cookie-cutter identical. That
is a problem, however, if Safety Harbor doesn't want its
elementary school razed to make way for a generic replacement.
Community support is essential to preserve
the original school building and auditorium, which date to 1916.
They are a unique asset and should be preserved, whether as part of
the school or for use by all of the community.
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Front Page 
Op-Ed 
