The preservation of a historic school building has parents at nearby Bel Air Elementary worried about rats, asbestos and aesthetics after the Board of Education gave the site a reprieve from demolition Monday.
The 126-year-old Bel Air Academy ? formerly a school and headquarters for the Board of Education ? was mostly spared from the wrecking ball this week when the school board decided to demolish the additions tothe building and turn the rest of its land over to the adjacent elementary school for use as playgrounds and a bus loop.
Some parents called the old building on Gordon Street an eyesore and a health risk for their children, and would rather see the whole thing gone.
“Our school already had a rodent problem coming down from the Gordon Street property,” said John Frado, a parent of two students at Bel Air Elementary.
“Right now it?s an absolute eyesore. It?s boarded up; it?s been vandalized,” said Deborah Hanley, another parent and wife of town Commissioner Terry Hanley. “Before it was boarded up it was open, and there were people in and out of it. To me, that was dangerous.”
Kristina Calabrese, Frado?s wife, said she was concerned about children being exposed to asbestos and lead paint.
“If the building starts to deteriorate further, I?m afraid there?s nothing to keep that asbestos from drifting over to where our children play,” Calabrese said.
“Historical preservation and structural preservation aren?t the same thing,” said Kathy Jenkens, another parent. “You can preserve it by thoroughly documenting it and its history. If they want some wayto remember it, let?s take some of the bricks and make a wonderful brick path to our new green space.”
Board member Ruth Rich said the building rehabilitation would have to take place at the same time as improving the fields and parking around it, to keep the building from deteriorating.
“It could become a liability issue if the green space is used by our children and that building project does nothing. I?d be afraid the building could fall on them,” Rich said.
The county, town of Bel Air and school system are cooperating to come up with a reuse of what will remain of the building, schools spokesman Don Morrison said. If nothing happens or if funding is not available, the school board reserves the right to demolish the rest of the building.
