Community push to save site of Colorado school brings small, tentative win
Neighbors say the former Vivian Elementary School is more than just an empty building.
"It is really kind of the heartbeat of our neighborhood," Anthony Farr said.
Farr is among those pushing to keep the property as a park or open space.
"It is something we are fighting for, and we care about obviously we want to see it be a part of the community still and not just bulldozed," he said.
Carol Ibanez helped organize the community.
For months they've been flooding the school district with concerns about development and asking the city of Lakewood to step in and purchase the property.
"We provided a lot of opportunity and information to both Jeffco and particularly Lakewood, so they realized hey this is important," Ibanez said.
As part of the school district's disposition process, the City of Lakewood was given the opportunity to purchase the property first.
"Lakewood didn't originally signal interest because we hadn't heard from the community that there was interest," Lakewood City Council Member Jeslin Shahrezaei said at a joint meeting with the Jefferson County School Board. "Then we were way past that process where we could have entered into it."
The disposition process and the idea that adjustments need to be made were addressed.
"We are changing both timelines to allow the city more breathing room to do some process on their end as well as the process itself, in particular, the splitting up of the property and being more open to that," Jefferson County School District Superintendent Tracy Dorland said.
Although developers are now making offers on the Vivian property, the school board says they are doing what they can to meet community needs.
"Even though the process has not been revised yet, we have inserted a requirement in the call for offers that the developer give us a response that- with the awareness that the city is interested in three acres," Dorland added.
Neighbors say three acres, while not guaranteed, signals a step in the right direction.
"This really is the last piece of land that could be something like this," Ibanez said.