“My first thought when looking at this design was, ‘This would be a very nice building for Centerville, for West Chester or a place like that,’ ” said South Park resident Heath MacAlpine. “I don’t think it fits into a historic neighborhood ... The design is much too generic and does not throw back to what was there in the past.”
Oakmont Education, an Akron-based organization that operates a network of “dropout recovery” charter schools, wants to construct a new, two-story school facility at the northeast corner of Wayne Avenue and Wyoming Street. The other corners of that intersection are occupied by a Sunoco gas station, a Wendy’s restaurant, and the parking lot for a health clinic.
The property in question, which is vacant land, used to be home to an empty and neglected Spanish Colonial revival commercial building that was constructed in 1929. The building was demolished years ago.
Liberty High School, which is currently located in a warehouse at 140 N. Keowee St., is a high school that focuses on career vocational training for nontraditional students, said Nicole Davis, the architect for the project.
Liberty serves young people who dropped out of school and offers classes and training focused on areas like construction, advanced manufacturing, health care and cosmetology (nail tech), Davis said.
Paulette Hare, executive director of operations for Oakmont Education, said Liberty currently has an enrollment of 350 students who live within five miles of the school building. Hare said the school is in high demand and currently has a waiting list of young people who want enroll.
Liberty High School offers two sessions that are four and a half hours — one in the morning and one in the afternoon, she said.
Since the school serves unconventional students, class attendance usually hovers around 60%, Hare said.
Members of the Dayton Landmarks Commission during a recent concept review session said they have issues with the proposed design and appearance of the new school facility.
Board members said the proposed building looks too plain and does not contain elements consistent with the architectural styles of the buildings in South Park’s historic district.
The portion of the project site along Wayne Avenue is in the South Park historic district, while the eastern edge of the property is in the Twin Towers neighborhood.
Landmarks members said they’d like to see some changes to the exterior of the facility and the proposed building materials. They say the facility should be more compatible with the neighborhood.
Mark Manovich, a South Park resident, said he and other residents are disappointed with the proposed school project because they think a business use is more appropriate for that location.
He said that section of Wayne Avenue is a business corridor, and putting a school at that site is a waste of a prime location.
Manovich said he’s also concerned about the configuration of the site and a proposed setback for the school building.
Also, he said, “If the school for whatever reason does not succeed, we would want a building that could be reused.”
About 15 years ago, the site was targeted to become a new Kroger store. Kroger has a store just south of the site, on the other side of Wayne Avenue, but the company discussed plans to build a larger store at this location, before canceling the project.
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