Judgment on South Parks' Future Expected Monday

News KBMT
Story Created: Jul 31, 2009 at 4:22 PM CDT
Story Updated: Jul 31, 2009 at 5:23 PM CDT

Residents looking to save an old Beaumont school scheduled for demolition will have to wait until Monday, August 3 to find out if their court battle was successful.

The week long hearing wrapped up Friday, July 31 with yet another extension tacked onto the order stopping, at least temporarily, the Beaumont Independent School District from tearing down South Park school.

KBMT 12 News Brian Burns has the story.

58th district court judge Bob Wortham will spend the weekend weighing whether B.I.S.D. should be stopped form tearing down the old school.

The final day of testimony began with Assistant Beaumont School Superintendent Terry Ingram being grilled about how the Citizens Advisory Bond Committee did their job and whether or not they could officially speak for the School Board of Trustees.

Attorney Michael Getz believes he made his point about broken promises to those who want to keep South Park Middle School.

"The district made promises to get the bond passed and then turned around and violated that trust" said Getz.

The Beaumont Heritage Society and Alumni of South Park have been seeking the injunction to prevent the planned demolition of the school which will be replaced as part of the $389 million bond package approved by voters two years ago.

School District Attorney Melody Chappell says if the injunction is granted, it could seriously jeopardize the entire bond project.

"The project is on a very tight schedule and with it taking 22 months to complete the South Park project, there's very little room for more time" said Chappell.

As both attorney's pointed out, a three hour hearing has turned into four days of testimony. Judge Worth says he'll review the evidence this weekend and make a ruling on Monday, August 3."

But Getz says they don't want to derail the entire bond issue and says a meeting with the district could keep things on track.

"We want this resolved to get together through some type of mediation to come to an agreement and put this behind us" added Getz.

A process that won't begin before a ruling is announced next week.

In Beaumont Brian Burns, KBMT 12 News ABC/NBC.

District officials say the Asbestos Abatement Project at South Park is currently the only process being slowed down because of this week's hearing.


http://www.kbmt12.com/news/local/52215597.html