Pueblog USa
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Old Buildings Never Die…
...they just get wrecked to pieces.
Today’s Chieftain carried an article about a school in Las Animas that was demolished this past week.
This is a prime example of why Pueblo has an Historic Preservation Ordinance and why it needs to be enforced. This school, Columbian Elementary, was on both the State and National Registers for historic landmarks. It was demolished by the owner, the local school district, because the land “may need to be used in the future for expansion.” Being listed on the State and National Registers does not prevent demolition. Pueblo’s ordinance, however, WOULD prevent demoliton in a case like this, if all the officials are paying attention and doing what they’re supposed to do.
What is surprising is that this school building has almost assuredly belonged to the school district ever since it was built, which means it was owned by the school district when it was added to the Historic Registers and the school district had a part in applying for the listings. What made the district change its mind? What was once a source of pride, something that was a major landmark in the community, suddenly lost its value for unknown reasons and was torn down.
What is also a little surprising is that the school district presumably teaches history and civics. If they’re teaching students to value what has gone on before, to learn from it, to develop from it, they just destroyed a major piece of realia for that process. And if the accusations mentioned in the article are true, the demolition also gave students a sad civics lesson.
My final comment is that studies have shown that students aren’t just learning as well as they used to. Are new school buildings part of the problem? I went to school in an important looking building (Carlile Elementary) and learning seemed important. Are the new, shapeless, pod buildings part of the learning problem?
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