Alameda High School fence stirs debate
Alameda High School fence stirs debate
Dennis Laine drove past Historic Alameda High School this morning, and he was shocked by what he saw: An eight-foot tall fence being erected around portions of the old school.
“This fence is more than a simple chain link fence. The posts that are now in the ground are more suitable for a PRISON and that is exactly what Alameda High is going to look like!” Laine wrote The Alamedan on Thursday. “This construction needs to be stopped NOW before it is to late to do anything about it. The fence project needs to be redesigned.”
The Board of Education voted unanimously in June to erect the fence to protect students and passers-by from debris that an engineering firm that studied Historic Alameda High said could fall from the buildings in the event of a catastrophic earthquake. The decision-making process drew handfuls of residents to the board meetings where the fence was discussed. But the fence’s construction has become the talk of the town, with some residents saying they see it as an “eyesore” and questioning whether it will actually offer protection in an earthquake.
“I would think that in the event of a major earthquake, a fence isn't going to do much to help out,” Michelle Marie Stibbs wrote on The Alamedan’s Facebook page. “What about all the kids inside when all this 'pancaking' is going on? Also, it would seem to me that putting a fence there would actually create a secluded area for high schoolers to group and hang out, thus creating more people in the 'danger' zone.”
The fence has attracted the attention of Alameda residents just as district leaders are getting ready to talk about what to do with the district’s aging schools and how - or whether - they will pay for $92 million in fixes a recent facilities study says they will need. Alameda High School alone needs nearly $20 million worth of upgrades, the study says.
School leaders tried unsuccessfully to get voters to approve bond funding to retrofit the old high school in the 1970s, and the bond money they did secure in 2004 was only enough to retrofit the central portion of the 87-year-old campus, which contains Kofman Auditorium and some classes. District administrators moved adult school students out of their Central Avenue digs earlier this year over seismic safety concerns, and Historic Alameda High will be largely vacant when administrators move into their new offices in October.
While many have expressed their anger over the fence and its impact on the look of the campus, others questioned preservationists’ goals in seeking the buildings’ restoration.
“I think people have forgotten that when those who wanted the old buildings preserved were made aware that the space being preserved could not be used for students (not earthquake/Field Act safe) they did not care,” Kate Quick wrote on The Alamedan’s Facebook page. “Preservation of the buildings, even if there was no money to make the space usable for the kids was the goal. There were also no plans for ‘re-repurposing’ the space.”
But at least one school board member sees the public outcry over the fence as an opportunity to better engage residents in the upcoming discussion about the district’s facilities. School board Trustee Trish Spencer, who told her dais-mates she expected a strong public reaction to the fence once it was erected, said she’s been approached by several residents about the fence and also the future of Alameda’s school facilities.
“You put up a fence, that will engage the community,” Spencer said. “At least it’s starting the conversation. We have a problem there. How are we going to deal with it?”
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