So lemme get this straight...

[washere]

So I just read somewhere that we're paying $75K to a consultant to come up with ideas for what to do with the old Cary Elementary building.

Mind you, this is just for a list of ideas to present to the council, not for developing a plan to accomplish anything.

Man, I must be in the wrong business. Apparently I can make $75K for an afternoon of brainstorming.

So why don't we start a nice list of all the things we could do with that building? We can get a list going, and then I'll stand out on 54 one morning at the light at Aviation (you know, the one you wait a solid 20 minutes to get through but doesn't need fixing) and poll the angry and frustrated motorists on our ideas.

It'll be completely unscientific, but atleast it's free :lol: .

Oh, I know: we could turn the old Cary Elementary building into a huge FREE daycare center.

Now there's an amenity I could live with.

If some crummy baseball league gets a huge stadium, I want free daycare...and someone to get rid of the $%^&* squirrels.

You know, I think I'll start a lobbyist group to get that free daycare in Cary. I'll bet it would bring LOTS of people to the area too (thus increasing the tax base). Which means more home sales... :wink:

Any other ideas?

[johnb]

" If elected president I will give you health care. I would have healed Christopher Reeve. I will give you higher standards of living. I will give you each and everyone a job. If you want one. I will give you each a free crack ho. I will give you free day care and an executive assistant as well. Best of all, did I mention it is all free? "

-- slight paraphrasing of a certain presidential candidate.

[Don]

Glad to see type of wasteful spending bothers you Charchar. Unfortunately I guess the last 3 years of citizens groups input regarding the old Elementary school building and it's future weren't good enough.

There have been talks of turning it into a cultural arts facility, library, museum, and even a culinary school.

My thoughts - considering Cary Elementary is already overcrowded (the new school actually holds 130 LESS kids than the original building - go figure huh?) why not incorporate it to help with the overcrowding? Yes it would require much in renovations, but considering the overcrowding is only going to get worse - especially with the plans of more high density downtown on the way - why not? Maybe it's possible, maybe not, but I believe our childrens future (ya ya john) is more important than a culinary school or art facility.

[johnb]

But Don...it would be FREE....

[Don]

Free crack ho? :?

[washere]

Culinary school...hmm...

I could live with that too B-) .

And since it's in Cary, it would have to be a "world class" facility. Maybe we could hire that Jaques Torres dude full time. Then we could all learn to make the Eiffel Tower out of chocolate.

I was actually thinking the other day that it might be fun to take a pastry class. And there really aren't any decent cooking schools ANYWHERE near here.

Okay, so maybe half daycare, half culinary school...

[dhyatt]

[snip]
My thoughts - considering Cary Elementary is already overcrowded (the new school actually holds 130 LESS kids than the original building - go figure huh?)
[snip]

This is a point I brought up when the rezoning case came through P&Z. I stated then that it didn't make a whole lot of sense - even less so when you consider that the TCAP 'plan' calls for putting more families downtown. I was essentially told that the school board knew what they were doing and I should trust them on this - not that I really had much choice.

[johnb]

I was essentially told that the school board knew what they were doing and I should trust them on this - not that I really had much choice.

He Don, let me run these by you:

1-Lee won the Battle of Gettysburg.

2-John Kerry isn't on Botox.

3-'Real' communism has never been tried before.

Which sounds more deranged than "the school board knew what they were doing"?

I vote none.

[washere]

Apparently the school board thought we'd all do better to learn to sculpt the Eiffel Tower from chocolate...

Can't say I'm altogether surprised.

[washere]

Just a thought:

I recall that a few months ago, a property much like the one in question was auctioned off on ebay.

A mom and pop ebay seller bought the old school for ~$150K and used it for warehousing/storage space for their business.

[Brent]

Back to the original consultant post: I really have to wonder how many ideas the $75K consultant came up with that a volunteer citizens' group wouldn't have come up with for free.

[Don]

Just a thought:

I recall that a few months ago, a property much like the one in question was auctioned off on ebay.

A mom and pop ebay seller bought the old school for ~$150K and used it for warehousing/storage space for their business.

I believe the TOC worked the deal of the century acquiring Cary Elementary. They bought the building for $330,000.00. A steal in my mind but I am sure renovations will far than exceed the sales price.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't that building have environmental issues? I believe a few years ago asbestos was discovered in the building. If the asbestos has never been removed renovation will cost a fortune! I think the building should be converted to a auto repair shop. We don't have enough of them downtown.

[Don]

GREAT IDEA!!!!!! :wink: :wink:

[johnb]

We could use it as an "art space" and deal with the asbestos at the same time.

It'd make Ernie happy.

I am an artist. A performance artist who uses fire to signify man's primal urges, an inflamed spirit spiralling skyward...

I propose to douse the old building with gasoline and light that sucker up.

I would call it "Urban renewal". A one time performance to solve the problems of asbestos and building renovation and simultaneously solving the "problem" of a lack of "art" in the city of Cary.

My art is dangerous.

[washere]

Actually, my husband proposed that we use the building for firefighter training.

Apparently, in his home town, every year there was a "fire college". Firefighters from all over would come, take classes on fires, and then go burn a building (and put it out).

They burned the same building every year :roll: .

It occurs to me, that it would be really funny to go paint that ash dump with fire retardent paint sometime before the next drill...

[Don]

C'mon guys, that is one of the most historic buildings in Cary if not Wake County. We need to preserve it and find a use for it that not only enhances downtown, but Cary and Wake County as well.

[Anonymous]

and I beleive an auto repair shop would enhance it

[Don]

Guest,
While I can't help but support your idea for some reason :roll: I think we all know that wouldn't be the best use for that facility. (unless of course the town performs the remodle and gives me the keys) :-D :-D JUST KIDDING!

I would really like to see it used to assist the overcrowding conditions present at Cary Elementary. Yes I am sure the asbestos removal/remodle would cost a fortune, but considering what it would cost to build another school entirely, it may be the best bang for the buck?

My only beef with this is that the old school and new school don't resemble each other in any way shape or form. Thanks goes to WCPSS I guess for picking the most butt-ugly design plans they could have for the new school.

[StanN]

There are many potential good uses for the school. The three at the top of my list in order of priority.

1.incubator for seed stage high-tech entrepeneurs

2. An education center for those kids needing special help during breaks between classes in year round schools.

3. theatrical arts center.

4. culinary center.

All of the above would require a parking deck. IMHO that should be at the TOC's expense.

It would be wonderful if the Chamber or some of the towns high-tech movers and shakers got behind the incubator and paid for the renovations, furnishings, equipment and management required- as in the case in Greensboro. Volunteer organizations such as SCORE, SBA, SBTDP might help staff it. Grant money is likely available. Wakke Tech might chose to participate as could other academic institutions. The TOC might supply a single administrative assistant. Wouldn't this be appropriate to a high-tech town that is home to about 170 IT businesses, all but a handful quite small. Consider that the town largest employer was in a small office on Hillsboro St. 27 years ago. Today they employ thousands in Cary, have a tax base (reported by Wake County) as $220M. Many of their employees live in Cary and help the community with an additional several hundred millions of tax base. Some of them serve the community in volunteer capacities, e.g. Tech Engage. Oters have served in elected office and on volunteer committees. All it takes is some vision, some patience and a helping hand at the start of the process.

Perhaps their could be grant money or funds from the Greater Raleigh Chamber or the Wake Ed Partnership for the second proposal.

The other two are nice self indulgences but other than the parking should be done totally by private enterprise with money at risk.

stan

[washere]

It would be wonderful if the Chamber or some of the towns high-tech movers and shakers got behind the incubator and paid for the renovations, furnishings, equipment and management required- as in the case in Greensboro.

I think that's a great idea. Although, I'm not terribly hard to impress :lol: .

When you say "as in the case in Greensboro," are you speaking of the recent mill conversions/renovations???

[johnb]

If that building does have asbestos insulation in it it will be a fiscal nightmare to clean it up. It is simply an old, inefficient building. If it has any historical significance the town could use it as a museum perhaps but overall it is simply in the wrong place for convenient access, it will be a money pit no matter what use it dreamed up for it, and in the long run we're gonna regret not tearing it down now.

It never ceases to amaze me how many ways some of you can imagine to spend the same dollar over and over again. It's almost as if you think the city budget is a magical pot of gold that can never be emptied.

[StanN]

CharChar,

Look at these sites,

http://triad.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2004/02/23/focus1.html

http://triad.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2004/09/20/daily3.html

http://www.raleighscore.org/

http://www.techengage.org/PublicSite/about.aspx

Stan

[Brent]

There are many potential good uses for the school. The three at the top of my list in order of priority.

1.incubator for seed stage high-tech entrepeneurs

2. An education center for those kids needing special help during breaks between classes in year round schools.

3. theatrical arts center.

4. culinary center.



All reasonable ideas. And Stan provided them for free. I would add historical center/history museum, art gallery and publicly available rental space for parties, etc. And I'm not charging $75K for those ideas.

And there's no need to choose just one use -- the facility could host several of these and other uses.

Ideally, given the building's history, I think at least part of it should be used for historical and educational purposes of some sort.

[Brent]

C'mon guys, that is one of the most historic buildings in Cary if not Wake County. We need to preserve it and find a use for it that not only enhances downtown, but Cary and Wake County as well.

Yes, it is, and yes, we do. It's located in the Town Center Historic District. It's a very important building from a historical perspective. Cary has a rich history and way too little of it is left.

[washere]

I think it's very, very important to preserve our history and culture. So do a lot of other people.

That's why we have historical societies.

I'm not aware if the TOC has a historical society currently, but if we don't, we'd be ripe candidates for one.

I guess the point is, we do have limited funds. Some things are more important than others (although what is and isn't important seems to get awfully skewed in Cary...). As a taxpayer, I demand accountability for how my funds are spent. Thus, if the town is going to spend my money, they'd better be darn sure that whatever they're spending it on is noble and worthwhile.

Because of the volatility of the budget issues, and the potential for upheaval over what gets done with this building, the council must tread VERY lightly.

If the concensus is for the building to be preserved as a purely historical landmark (and not really used for much else), that sounds great to me.

But some historical preservation group needs to raise the funds for that themselves, instead of the taxpayers being forced to pay for it (kinda like the doggie park thing).

[Brent]

I think it's very, very important to preserve our history and culture. So do a lot of other people.

That's why we have historical societies.

I'm not aware if the TOC has a historical society currently, but if we don't, we'd be ripe candidates for one.

Cary has the Friends of the Page-Walker Hotel (that's the really cool building behind Town Hall). That group is a private group that was responsible for restoring that building, and we are in the process of branching out beyond just that building. Indeed, we have just formed a historic preservation committee. There's the larger Capital Area Preservation group, also, but the Friends of Page-Walker is the one I know about that is focused on Cary historical properties. If you'd like to know more, send me an e-mail...I know the guy who's doing the newsletter :wink: and I expect I could get you on their mailing list.


If the concensus is for the building to be preserved as a purely historical landmark (and not really used for much else), that sounds great to me.

But some historical preservation group needs to raise the funds for that themselves, instead of the taxpayers being forced to pay for it (kinda like the doggie park thing).

No matter what the building is used for, I would hope that interested private parties will be incented to pay for it. Stan laid out a reasonable outline in a previous post. The town has already done its part in preserving the building by purchasing it. I hope that a private historical society will be involved to some extent in any remodeling, no matter what the ultimate use is.

Let me know how much of a contribution I can put you down for. :wink: And I can get membership information (for Friends of Page-Walker) to anyone, too, just e-mail me!

[StanN]

Here is an example of the type of activity I envision for the Cary Incubator.

http://raleighscore.org/Workshopbroch3.htm

Note that all the professionals participating in this workshop have donated their time. The Q&A session has professionals fielding legal, financial and other business questions from the 80-100 clients we typically draw. And all the efforts to put it together and promote it come from unpaid volunteers - namely retired business executives. These same executives, 35 of us from Raleigh and Cary, also offer counseling services at no charge in Cary and Raleigh.

For a small fraction of the consultants fee, this type of workshop could be likely be expanded to 4X/year or more instead of the two we currently run. It's frustrating to me when I have to tell a client that really needs this type of information that they have to wait six months until the next session. The funds are needed for ads to alert the inexhaustable market to the fact that they exist.

Rather than seeing the money going to consultants, I'd like to see it spent on such mundane things as tables and chairs, a sound system an digital projector. That's "infrastructure" that would pay for itself many times over. But compared to swimming pools, ball fields, public art we likely don't have a chance.

Incidentally, for anyone wanting to attend, our phone # is 856-4739. Call 9AM to 12 N on weekdays.

stan