Little Red Schoolhouse: Worth $1 million to move?
After an hour of one-sided overly enthusiastic discussion the Amherst Historical Commission decided not to take any action on the one year demo delay (which expires in May) currently in effect for the Amherst College owned Little Red Schoolhouse.
While that may sound like a victory for breathless zealot Carol Gray, it fell far short of what she repeatedly asked the Commission to do: mainly go on a public relations warpath against Amherst College, and try to force a meeting with President Biddy Martin.
Commissioners expressed exasperation with Ms. Gray who simply refused to answer simple questions with a yes or no. Like whether she has raised a single dime towards the preservation effort over these past six months? Well, no (after 10 minutes worth of other ideas that will never pan out).
Or whether she secured property off the Amherst College campus for the building to go? Umm, no.
Amherst College representative Tom Davies said the College wants the building gone but will not put money into moving it, and their estimates are more like $1 million vs Ms. Gray's overly optimistic $150,000 (which did not include relocation site work).
He also pointed out, when he could get a word in edgewise, the College takes historical preservation very seriously and has won awards for doing so.
Little Red Schoolhouse is currently standing in the way of the new $214 million Science Center which the College hopes to break ground on next year.
Amherst Historical Commission: Carol Gray 2nd from rt, Tom Davies rear center
Go, Carol! If anyone can kill a project, it is you.
ReplyDeleteThat's really what she was looking for last night: encouragement that the crowds can be whipped up to march on Amherst College bearing torches and pitchforks.
ReplyDeleteShe left the meeting very unhappy.
You think the students are going to protest something that prevents them from getting a new, major science building? The irony in this cause is startling.
ReplyDeleteCarol is a nut job and control freak who finds a whacked-out cause and believes it 100% while the rest of the world thinks shes nuts. Look at her husband on the left. He follows her everywhere like a possession.
ReplyDeleteThe McMead White White archives (1875-1960) are housed in New York Historical Society.
ReplyDeleteThe archives include 61,150 rolled drawings for over 1000 commissioned projects, including several at Amherst College. The pre-school is not included.
So what? It's still a beautiful little school house. Is this town serious about historical preservation or not?
ReplyDelete"Is this town serious about historical preservation or not?"
ReplyDeleteHow do you say?
Pretension.
Every desire,
every concern,
every act.
Spurious.
Scheming.
-Squeaky Squeaks
Hook, line and sinker.
Show me a fanatic about historic preservation and I'll show you a hoarder.
ReplyDeleteCarol makes about as much sense as Squeaky up there. Get a room, weirdos!
ReplyDeleteSay what you want about Squeaky. There's poetry there. Lol.
DeleteIt's clever to call it a "Little Red School House", which evokes images of American democracy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401802410.html
But it's actually a private pre-school designed to look like a red school house.
The name of the preschool that used to use that building was Little Red Schoolhouse. Affectionately known as Little Red.
DeleteAs an alumni of The Little Red Schoolhouse with my sister who's father served on the trustee'S for many years, I can assure you that nothing is more special and intimate than this school-and it's one of a kind arcitecture designed for little wunderkinden. The violence and tone of ignorance of some of these trolls whose parents doubtless had no class or culture is truly very scary, whats wrong with America, and a real moral socially diseased sickness. This deseves NewYork Times appeal !!!
ReplyDeleteNew York Slimes??
DeletePeople seem to be losing the big picture here. Little Red is a lovely and historic building. Look at all the effort Amherst College took with one tree, using $100K to move a tree. Here, the college shut down an excellent preschool years before it needed to, did not relocate the school program and now is destroying a historic structure. Has the college run the numbers on the cost to move it? It has the space. People seem to be focusing on personalities, not the main issue. If UMass was tearing down a historic structure what would the response be?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they would have spent $100K to prevent the killing of babies and the harvesting of the baby parts? Oh no. Can't do that!
ReplyDeleteTry birth control, condoms are NOT murder, despite your right wing priest !!!
DeleteWho said anything about condoms? The post was talking about the harvesting and selling of baby parts.
DeleteHey. If they get rid of this building, fear not. You can go to Donut Man on Rt9 and see the same "unique" architecture as it's cut from the same mould aka both look like a former bank building. In fact Arrha next to Donut Man is also "unique" and a sister to the school house.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Carol can make her husband drive her there and she can sit in the building and think about all the history of that building too. She'll have a doughnut, but her husband will not be permitted to.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving to everyone, no matter where you currently sit in the political spectrum.
ReplyDelete