School asks city for old hospital

Cheryl Owens/News Editor
The Newton Record

NEWTON October 15, 2008 12:13 pm

— For the first time in recent memory, someone has a plan for the old Newton Regional Hospital building.
Newton Career Center Director Rufus Ellis presented a power point presentation to the Newton Board of Aldermen last week asking if the board would consider donating the building to the Newton School district to be used for the Career Center.
“If the building is just going to sit and deteriorate we could really benefit from being able to use it,” Ellis said. “I know you are trying to sell it, but if you don’t sell it we really need it. We have a deadline of December 15 to redesign and we desperately need more space.”
According to Ellis he has asked Superintendent Mary Kate Garvin if she would take the hospital if it was donated to the school for a career center and was told she would think about it.
“I have gone and looked at the building and talked to the mayor about this,” Ellis said. “There just is no more space at the high school, and who knows how much the population is going to grow.”
Newton Career Center is now a pilot site which enables them to totally redesign every program, which includes the buildings, laboratories, shops and the curriculum.
“The reason for this is because the students that are graduating are not reaching the expectations of employment,” Ellis said. “With this redesign it will help them to compete for high tech jobs.”
Ellis told the board if they didn’t have the space to convert the redesign then they could lose programs.
“We have five programs now, if we get to keep co-op we have six, but it doesn’t look like we are going to be able to keep it,” Ellis said. “You have to maintain five programs to be a career center, and if we lose another program or can’t place a student then we won’t get any money from the state department because that is how we get it.”
Ellis said if the career center was lost the students would then have to be bused to the county and bused back and an hour would be lost.
“I need room and space, I need a kitchen for my culinary and space for auto mechanics, it would be a good place for a mechanic shop in the back,” Ellis said. “I know it would take some money to fix it up, and not something we could do tomorrow, but if the city donated it to us and Superintendent Garvin and the school board accepted it, then it would be wonderful for the students.”
The board told Ellis to give Forest and Associates time to try and find a buyer and they would then talk further with him.
Ellis said he is willing to fight for the students and he is pleading and begging the board to consider doing this if the hospital doesn’t sell. At the present time the hospital is on the market with Forest and Associates Real Estate with an asking price of $100,000.
In other matters:
• Halloween Trick or Treating was set for Thursday, October 30 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Approved a face lift for city hall to pressure wash building and get the fountain fixed in front.

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