Old school's disrepair a cause of contention

One board member said the building is an eyesore.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- School officials want to use the former high school building here as a storage facility, but township officials want the building to be cleaned up and any potential violations on the property corrected soon.
Since the district built a new high school building in 1999, parts of the old building have been demolished, a library has been built on part of its former grounds, and the maintenance and transportation departments have called it home.
What remains of the school, the section that served as the gymnasium, stands on a small patch of land visible to those driving along Church Hill Road.
Plans sought
Trustee W. Gary Litch, in a letter dated June 5, asked board members their plans for the former high school.
Litch said the fire department thinks there are numerous safety concerns at the building. He requested the building's facade either be fixed or the rest of the structure razed.
The building was the subject of a lengthy debate during a recent board meeting. Board member Gloria Lang said the building looks horrid sitting on a main thoroughfare between Belmont Avenue and the township administration building. She said the dilapidated building is what potential businesses see of the school system if they drive through the township.
Chuck Cera, director of transportation, maintenance and grounds, told the board there are two or three areas on the building open to weather and the elements. He said the structure's interior also has deteriorated from sitting without heat and the routine maintenance it had when in it was in use.
'Button up'
Cera told the board he hopes to be able to "button up" the outside of the building for about $20,000.
Lang said the board appropriated $20,000 for work on the building in the past. Those funds, however, had to be diverted to more pressing projects at two other school district buildings.
Township Fire Chief Michael A. Durkin said the fire department has had several discussions with the board about the building, and fire officials have been through it to assess whether it's safe.
Durkin said the district plans on changing the use of the building from a school to a storage facility -- a move that would require the board to meet any new building standards and codes.
He said if the building were still being used as a school, it would be grandfathered in as is, but any change in use means all new standards must be met.
Adding upgrades, such as a sprinkler system if needed, could be costly, Durkin said.
"I don't think they anticipated the cost they would incur by changing the use group," he said. "That kind of threw a monkey wrench in their plans."
Durkin said the fire department and Trumbull County building inspector are waiting on a complete set of plans from the board detailing exactly how the building will be used in order to determine what code upgrades will have to be made.
Durkin said he hopes to see plans and necessary upgrades made at the building later this summer.