September 2, 2006
the future of Bellevue
Slated for surplussing under the City of the Future plan, Bellevue Elementary will be an attractive development property. Some folks are starting to talk about finding a developer interested in a combination retirement and private elementary school…
From the letter sent to chpn:
Why not use Bellevue as a school to serve our community? It could combine retirement living on the top floor with a school on the two lower floors. In other parts of the country, communities have combined retirees with pre- and elementary-school age children, a partnership that benefits both populations. Or use it as a school and community center. The trick (or the million-dollar question) is to find a developer who would consider such a mad idea.
About 30 years ago, when Bellevue School closed because of a fire, some of us with young children talked briefly about trying to start a small school in Church Hill, but there weren’t enough of us to really push it. We did create a morning pre-nursery school with a hired teacher that lasted for quite a few years. Unfortunately, the history through the 90s was to run for the ‘burbs for many when their children reached school age or (for those who could afford college tuition rates for k-12) make the daily trek to and from private schools in far off places.
About 20 years later a friend I used to work with who had two daughters was one of the initiators of Orchard House School in North Side. That school has flourished and now moved to the Fan. If people in Church Hill are interested in exploring the possibility of starting a reasonably priced private school in our neighborhood, perhaps it should be explored.
I like the idea.
I love the idea too. Just let my kids finish school there. Only 2 more years.
I love the idea and would support any efforts to make an idea like this get off the ground. The last thing our neighborhood needs is more condos catering to the very wealthy. Once we lose a unique property like this to developers, it’s gone from the public sphere forever. Children & seniors help ensure community diversity, so mixed-use ideas like this one make sense.
I read a piece a few months ago on the possible reuse of the Patrick Henry Elem School..it was an interesting idea of taking the old building and converting it to condos with a open work station with supplies, books computers, meeting space etc and renting/selling the units to Richmond Public School teachers. Sort of taking a twist on the condo usage and making it a living/learning community and a great recruitment tool. Maybe now that P.Henry is housing Norrell after their flooding this idea could shift over to Bellvue??
It is a great property. My children went to school there in 1993 and the school attracted all the neighborhood children. It was beginning to integrate but a parent brought up the concept of clustering being used and then was when the school went downhill and all the neighborhood children left. It had so much potential as a viable public school. It was amazing but lost all hope.
The neighborhood needs a school or why would families with children stay there.