Enterprise Judge will announce South Park ruling Friday By KEN FOUNTAIN January 6, 2010 Posted: January 6, 2010, 4:48 PM CST 58TH District Judge Bob Wortham will announce his ruling in the South Park Middle School case in a hearing Friday at 3 p.m., according to a court employee. The case pits Beaumont ISD, which wants to tear down the 86-year-old structure in order to build a new school on the site, against the Beaumont Heritage Society and a loose-knit collection of "Greenies," former South Park High School students who want to see the structure preserved. The district maintains that the 1923 building is too old and dilapidated to serve what it says is a growing student population. The opposition argues that the structure can be preserved as part of a larger renovation project that could be done more cheaply than tearing the present building down and building all new facilities. In August, Wortham granted the plaintiffs a temporary injunction preventing the district from tearing down the building. In September, a two-day trial was held in order to determine whether Wortham would make the injunction permanent. He has been working on the ruling, as well as trying several other cases, since then. Comments pet wrote: The sad truth is that those at BISD who want to tear down South Park and salt the earth on which it stood will win sooner or later because they control the money. They can choose to neglect the old building long enough so that there is damage that can't be repaired. The beginning of the end was when the parasite BISD was attached to SPISD. 01/07/2010 07:17 AM CST HillebrandtHoney wrote: Well said Axiom! 01/07/2010 06:29 AM CST Axiom wrote: I pray that Judge Wortham makes a decision that promotes pride of community and respect for local history all the while addressing our leaders of education that a promise made to taxpayers is still a promise that must be kept long after the ballot boxes have closed and the votes counted. So often in today's world we have so-called leaders that say one thing to get elected or to get a bond passed only to find out their words were false and their intent less than admirable. Corruption of BISD should not be allowed to alter the landscape of our city and destroy landmarks because of backroom board deals or pay to play unethical cheats. Trust is that fragile commodity cherished by a few and abused by many. Please save South Park. 01/07/2010 01:35 AM CST HillebrandtHoney wrote: I hope Judge Wortham does the right thing and saves South Park. There are other options. Build the new school on the vacant property on the other side of the stadium. Then sell the admin building on IH-10 and use the money to renovate the SPHS building into the new admin building and offset new construction costs on the new school. That would save taxpayers money, save the old building, get a new school and more importantly begin a revitalization of the south end with new jobs. That would be a WIN all the way around! Is anyone at BISD listening? 01/06/2010 08:41 PM CST Zavallajack wrote: Hope the injunction becomes permanent. 01/06/2010 06:38 PM CST Zavallajack wrote: It would do for the opposition to get their ducks in a row. Hope the injunction stands. 01/06/2010 06:36 PM CST lookintothis wrote: "The opposition argues that the structure can be preserved as part of a larger renovation project that could be done more cheaply than tearing the present building down and building all new facilities." The opposition also argues that the district administration was deceptive, misleading, and manipulative in how they handled/presented their plans for this school before the bond issue and their plans for this school after the bond issue. 01/06/2010 06:04 PM CST fredsaid wrote: Alright, this Friday will be way before Christmas! 01/06/2010 04:56 PM CST