UPDATE: Appeals court upholds South Park order

By KEN FOUNTAIN
September 18, 2009
Posted: September 18, 2009, 12:24 PM CDT Last updated: September 18, 2009, 9:09 PM CDT

The trial that could determine the fate of South Park Middle School will start Monday after a state appeals court upheld Friday a temporary injunction that prevents Beaumont ISD from tearing down the 86-year-old structure.

In a narrowly tailored decision, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Court of Appeals found that 58th District Judge Bob Wortham did not overstep his authority when he granted a temporary restraining order on Aug. 3 to the Beaumont Heritage Society and 1966 South Park High School graduate Eddie Estilette, the plaintiffs in the case.

District officials want to tear down the building, the original home of what ultimately became Lamar University, in order to build a modern school they say will better meet the district's educational standards and serve a growing student population.

The plaintiffs, who represent a loose-knit group of "Greenies," or former South Park High School students, want to see the building preserved and renovated as a school or other facility.

In the eight-page appeals court ruling issued at midday Friday, the panel noted that Wortham's ruling was only temporary, as he on the same day set a full trial on the merits for Monday.

The judges write that in their review of the record of the four-day evidentiary hearing in Wortham's court, they found enough evidence to support his ruling to preserve the status quo - that is, keeping the building intact - until the full trial could occur.


Read more in Saturday's Beaumont Enterprise. http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/update__appeals_court_upholds_south_park_order.html?&showAllComments=y