UPDATE: South Park hearing ends

By KEN FOUNTAIN
July 31, 2009
Posted: July 29, 2009, 8:55 PM CDT Last updated: July 31, 2009, 4:11 PM CDT

UPDATE: District Judge Bob Wortham will take the weekend to consider whether to grant a tempoary injunction barring Beaumont ISD from demolishing South Park Middle School. Wortham recessed the four-day hearing after lawyers for both sides made passionate closing arguments after the conclusion of testimony this afternoon. Michael Getz, attorney for plaintiffs the Beaumont Historic Society and South Park High School alumni Eddie Estilette, argued that district officials had violated the state consitution by failing to give people opposed to demoliton a full hearing before the November 2007 bond election. Getz also argued that evidence showed the district had put out information that it would not demolish the 1923 structure which the voters relied upon when they approved the bond package. Under the law, he argued, that gives Wortham the authority to bar the district from razing the building. Melody Chappell, attorney for the district, argued that the most important issue in the case was one that hadn't been discussed much in the hearing -- providing the best learning environment for the children who attend South Park. Chappell noted that throughout the week, she has been wearing green, much like the shirts worn by South Park alumni who oppose the building's demoliton. She said that was because she didn't feel that the participants in the case should be divided by any color -- "green, white, black or brown."