by Steve Kim
Ridgewood NJ, In 2018, Ridgewood School made a facilities presentation in which the Performing Arts Center concept was added in at the end. Then the location, scale and cost estimates were different. That’s the first diagram.
At the facilities presentation last month, another plan emerged (surprise!). That’s the second diagram. Different locations, and it takes up a big part of the parking lot, and of course, costs more. $30 million is the estimate.
Oh, and the second one has a culinary lab for $1 million. Broadway-style theater with an orchestra pit… etc etc
There is no plan or logic. It’s one man’s ego and the board that is too meek.
The whole referendum has been to borrow as much $ as possible and get the most expensive assessments available. Now the debt proposed will likely top $100 million. That gets the school debt to $140 million. $250 million is the statutory debt ceiling. It likely gets a debt downgrade before that.
This is a gravy train that will derail unless we right the ship somehow.
What’s the solution?
The first plan was rejected because it would destroy the overall external aesthetics of the high school as viewed from the street and sidewalk as one approaches the school from west to east on E. Ridgewood Avenue.
The BOE are completely out of touch with reality. They need to curb spending NOW. They are going to tax the Village right off the map.
How does this plan better prepare Ridgewood HS seniors for the marketplace? What % of students are expected to pursue (a starving) artist career? The school needs to focus on basics such as English, math, software and critical thinking. Singing and dancing is clearly a plus, but my sense is that the school already does that part well.
If I lived on the neighboring streets, I would be gathering neighbors together to fight this asap. Living near a school requires a person to put up with a number of things, things that you understand before you purchase the home. I am sure none of these people signed up for living within a few hundred feet from a performing arts center. We all know that to keep it running, it will have to be constantly rented out. The traffic through the neighborhood is bad during normal school times and if I lived near there I would not want to add any additional congestion. I hope that people band together to stop this craziness.
As a former student of the music program, what people who oppose the PAC aren’t realizing is the massive need for this space. There is currently no quality performance space in Ridgewood High School that could support a full Band, Orchestra or Choir concert. Instead they use the campus center (a converted cafeteria) in the winter and West Side Pres. church in the spring. There is also currently limited rehearsal space which this plan would address. While this project requires a lot of money, this is a critical plan for the RHS music program to continue its level of success as well as staying competitive with other high schools, most of whom have a performing arts center exactly like the one proposed..
This should not be a nimby issue. It’s a financial issue. The stewards of the school budget have spent all the money and there is none left. Not only should we not be building a PAC we should be renegotiating union contracts. Downward.
“former student of the music program” – why is BF auditorium not good? Improve it’s sound and light quality and it should be good to go. Between campus center, BF auditorium and little theater there is enough space for all audience sizes.
NOT TO WORRY !!!!
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This plan will be approved and be built
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Because…..
We are RICH and STUPID
and they know it.
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