Ilion High School - Class of 1964

Herkimer Evening Telegram - July 8, 1964

Urban Renewal Cited To Cut School Cost

Article 11

Urban Renewal Cited To Cut School Cost

ILION - Taxpayers in Ilion can save hundreds of thousands of dollars by building future schools in conjunction with the urban renewal program, according to Richard Danforth, supervisor of the master plans being prepared for Ilion and other valley communities.

Danforth's comment came while addressing about 40 members of several village organizations on schools and urban renewal last night at the high school cafeteria. Present were members of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for Urban Renewal, Ilion Central School Board, Village Board, Chamber of Commerce, Junior Chamber of Commerce, Citizens Advisory Committee on Schools, and others.

Quoting from a publication called "Schools and Urban Renewal," published by the Educational Facilities Laboratory of the Fold Foundation, Danforth cited the case of New Haven, Conn., which built 15 new schools in conjunction with urban renewal at a cost of $12 million instead of $19 million, estimated cost.

Danforth noted combining the projects saved $7 million, according to the publication. Danforth said one of provisions of urban renewal programs is when a school is built in an area designated for urban renewal, the village is credited and its overall payments are drastically reduced as it is a public facility.

Two new elementary schools will be recommended in the master plan for Ilion, Danforth said. Location of one would be west of Barringer Rd., the other near the present North School, since these are the areas of most population.

"Better than 80 per cent of Ilion's school children live within a half mile radius of the proposed sites," Danforth said. These are the ideal locations as the children can walk to school, eliminating much bothersome bus transportation, he added.

He noted researches by his planning team have shown Ilion will have about 2,800 pupils in 1980, about half of them in the elementary group. He proposed each of the two new schools should hold about 700 pupils to avoid teaching and classroom scheduling problems.

"All the present elementary schools are deficient, all are over 30 years old," Danforth said. He said East Frankfort, West Hill, and North Street Schools are all "obsolete" and warned school population has increased by about 400 pupils in the past 10 years and will not decrease.

Danforth said the master plan will also propose a third school in future years as required, this to be located in the southeastern part of the village.

However, Danforth acknowledged one drawback to building one or more schools under the urban renewal program could be the time element, as it will take the village "three to four year's" to get into urban renewal. This week the village received a certificate of approval of the workable program from the Housing and Home Finance Agency, New York City, for start of the urban renewal.

Three blighted areas were cited for start of the urban renewal program, the Central Business District, and the North St. and W. Clark St. areas. Danforth said most commercial buildings in the business district are obsolete, and the proposed re-location of Route 5-S in North Ilion will change the flow of traffic in the business area from east to west to north and south.

In the North St. and W. Clark St. areas about 30 to 40 per cent of the dwellings are sub-standard or in need of major repairs, Danforth said.

Malvin Applegate, chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Urban Renewal, presided at the meeting.