Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Barnum design committee urges early Beaumont eviction

By John McTaggart

Straying from its charge to solicit and evaluate proposals for a design firm, the Ad Hoc Barnum Park Design Committee Monday night approved sending a letter to the City Commission urging that Beaumont Hospital be prematurely evicted from the premises so that demolition of Barnum School can begin as early as next summer.

The committee was formed by the commission in February to develop, issue and evaluate responses to a request for proposals (RFP) for a design for Barnum Park. It has met just four times and has not yet issued the RFP.

Beaumont’s current lease with the city expires in December 2008. Beaumont is paying 100% of the maintenance costs associated with the building – estimated by City Manager Tom Markus at $300,000 to $400,000 annually.

City Commissioner Rackeline Hoff, a member of the ad hoc committee, abstained from the 4-0 vote saying the committee was overstepping its bounds. “This is outside the scope of what the commission has asked,” Hoff said. “At no time did the commission ask this committee to set time frames. I just don’t see a reason for it.”

“I think it’s what the citizens want,” Van Dorn said. “I can’t imagine anyone not liking the idea of pulling ahead with this as soon as possible. It’s already been years in the making. This way, we can at least get some grass and trees in.”

The letter, which asks the commission to vote at its June 11 meeting on the Beaumont eviction, says the committee “believes that a plan acceptable to the City Commission and residents of the city can and will be developed to do necessary demolition and to implement a basic park with infrastructure for future park features for the $1.5 million set aside by the City Commission.” It surmises that “such a plan will be developed no later than spring 2008. This allows new park infrastructure and planting of greenery to be done before the winter of 2008. This timing allows use of the park the following spring 2009.”

The committee did not define “park infrastructure,” nor specify the features it expects in a “basic park” or “future park features.”

The letter asserts that “members of the community have strongly indicated that they are willing to begin fundraising for the park as soon as notice has been given to Beaumont to leave Barnum. Until such notice is given, they believe that promise of a park at Barnum will not be kept and fund raising is moot. Initial estimates of private fund raising are in the range of up to $250,000 over a period of 2 years.”