Monday morning’s rainy start to the work week on the path around the Falls had to be a hint of changes on the way. The rain, combined with warmer temperatures this week, will result in Mother Nature brushing a few strokes of green from her color pallet.
We are ready for a little green to break through the matted-down brown lawn spaces. Raking will be part of the outdoor routine for a number of homeowners in the next week or two.
Raking has been part of the routine at the expanded Abrams Elementary site in the past week as a number of trees have been taken down and the brush cleared. The former church building was burned as part of a training activity. Fire was also used to clean up the brush after several of the trees were salvaged for saw logs or firewood.
The foundation and other nonburnable debris has been removed from the site, and what was the basement area is now being filled to bring it up to grade. Preparing the site for the new parking lot takes more than just cutting the trees down. The stumps and major root structures need to be removed so that a solid base can be put in place under the parking and traffic areas.
Removal of the stumps is complicated by the fact that a new electric service was run into the back side of the building about 20 years ago when a major addition was added. The line was six or eight feet away from a line of trees that separated the former church property from the school property.
A lot can happen in 20 years. One of the things about trees is that they grow. The tree gets taller and has more branches. That’s the change that a person can see.
Underground there is growth, too. The roots spread out. If a person had Superman’s X-ray vision, one could confirm the fact that many of the roots had wrapped their tentacles around the three cables that bring the power into the building. The roots are not willing to let go of the cables just because new traffic lanes and parking areas are being built above the surface.
As a result, the easiest solution seems to be to abandon these lines and run a new service into the Abrams building. A couple of different routes are being considered. This is only one of several different underground complications for this project. Only a person with that X-ray vision would grasp the full picture.
Speaking of big pictures, an online community survey was recently conducted in order to provide guidance to the School Board as it puts together a profile of desired qualities in a new leader for the district. More than 300 people responded to the survey that was up for about 10 days. Among other things, the survey asked about strengths of the district. The majority of the respondents were parents of current or former students.
The results are being compiled and will be reported in a summarized form in the not-too-distant future. In general, there were lots of positives and lots of hopes for a brighter future.
Speaking of the future, this is a time of transition for the school district in many ways. The new athletic fields at the high school are taking shape, and the face of the Abrams School site is also evolving. The School Board will also transition with two new board members joining the ranks at the end of April.
Some 20 years ago, one of the divisions of General Motors went through a process to reinvent itself. Oldsmobile tried to project a more exciting image to young buyers with the line, “Not your father’s Oldsmobile.” The implication was that this no longer was an “old man’s” car. Ironically, the Oldsmobile division was on life support and was the first of the major GM divisions to be put to rest.
We would take the liberty to borrow that line, “This is not your father’s school,” as it relates to a number of perspectives. Since most of us went to school, we think we have a pretty good idea of what goes on in our school buildings, but times have changed and are changing at an ever faster pace. Some of these changes we can see and others are below the surface. All we can say is make sure your seat belt is fastened.
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