Preservation V Abandonment
The hung flower baskets sway in the fall breeze while stay-at-home parents walk their dogs with a warm latte in hand. A local man opens his door inviting his morning wave of espresso-less zombies. The jeweler up the street turns on his harmonious tunes of classical violins and pianos.
Their local hero dressed in blue and red patrols the streets looking for his next victim to snare in his web. Any outsider would look at this town at assume it has its shit together. The people are dressed in their finest Lululemon and On kicks. The buildings seem as if they have never aged. It is a pristine masterpiece of high-class standards.
The yellow bus goes round round round all through the town picking up the kids for their daily studies. An underlying quake is happening as of late these mornings. A civil war is occurring. A division between money spending and historic preservation.
It’s ironic that Quaker Valley, a school rooted in pacifism, has turned to infighting over a literal castle on the hill. The local public school of the Sewickley Valley area has proposed a new high school in Leet Township. This new school is to be on top of a hill overlooking the current high school, which sits on top of yet another hill, a natural Droste Effect. I am a product of this school, but I am also an architectural student. It is at this crossroad where I find myself in a peculiar position. I see it as an educational obligation to critique the proposed school and elevate the plain discourse to conditions beyond taxes and first responder access.
This proposed school has been the subject of controversy as of late in my little hometown. It has further separated itself into groups of those who want the new school and those who do not.
Those who want to abandon our current school see it as an old hag. When in reality, all it needs is some TLC. For underneath this grotesque mask of mold, poor ventilation, and outdated classrooms is a vibrant school filled with young hearted students. Those in favor of abandoning this brick antiquity claim the repairs outweigh the cost of a new high school. They say the land is susceptible to flooding, dangerously unstable and the repair cost is too high considering the price of a new school. There is an unconsidered cost, however. The expenditure of space.
It is overlooked just as their students, of whom abstain from sports. Space is a finite construct. The more we build, the more space we deplete. In other words, the faster we construct buildings, the quicker we run out of inhabitable spaces. Therefore, it is vital we analyze each building development’s cost-benefit of space.
There is concern for this issue given how little space Sewickley holds. The 130 acres of the proposed site will lessen the opportunity to build residential properties to attract new families. This may seem contradictory given the small nature of our current school. You might ask, how are we supposed to bring in new families if the high school we use now is nearing capacity?
There can be a multitude of solutions, that is what makes this project compelling. One answer may be to extend the school over the current bus loop creating a skywalk to an elevated addition that hovers over the grass field and hill. Now, this solution creates further problems given the flooding nature of the grass site. However, according to a 2021 study conducted by Citizens for a Great School in conjunction with local architects the flood plain is a non-issue.
There is proof that the current land is buildable in the Quaker Village shopping center and the Leetsdale Industrial Park across Route 65. I have yet to see research funded and conducted by the school board to confirm or deny the claim that the current land is unbuildable and an issue. The board claims that they must relocate the new school due to this hypothesized flood problem, yet they show zero effort to confirm this hypothesis.
I am appalled that the school which taught me to do my diligence when conducting research is hypocritical when it comes to their own agenda. You made me conduct hours of reading on godamn Ernest Hemingway for a measly five-paragraph essay. Yet, you have spent hours of research for the new site, but minutes compared to the current. A lazy confirmational bias of analysis. If you are the example for our students, then expect half assed papers and a stack of ones to accompany.
This flood zone component of the school board’s argument is only one example of an attempt to discredit the “safety” of the current high school. There are claims made that the school is unsafe and is “deteriorating”. I will vet these claims as it was only in 2020 (pre-covid) when I last was a student of Quaker Valley. There were mold and pencil riddled ceiling tiles that would excrete the downpour of mother nature’s tears. However, in regard to the structural integrity there should be no concern.
An analysis conducted by the school examined the structural integrity of the façade of the school. The results came back “good”. In conjunction to the evaluation criteria, this means it is “capable of safely carrying proposed occupancies” as well as “minor structural repairs required.” This is a fixable problem that the school is calling too expensive. Or rather, not worth it.
Yet the cap of $105 million is a nothing burger? I guess if you are going to take advantage of taxpayers you might as well abuse that power. The further increase in tax will have significant ramifications for the cost of living.
This increase in cost of living will make Sewickley less affordable and drive out families who will be unable to afford the new cost. Their children will leave their established friendships and be displaced to a new school filling them with social anxieties at far too early of an age. I feel for these kids, for I was once a new kid at Quaker Valley. Unfortunately, the kids may not have as kind of a teacher I did. One who possessed the Quaker Valley heart and care, shout out Mrs. Johnston. I would hope the school board shares the same heart as they expect from their employees. Yet, we find ourselves arguing over the proposal of a new school.
The extent the board is going to get this new school put up is certain proof of their care. They want to provide their kids with a new environment where they are set up for success. There can be success in the current school. I have found success in the exact school that is labeled underequipped. A school that is the heart of the Leetsdale community.
Their roots are embedded in the blue-collar past of the Industrial Park, but they do not stop in Leetsdale. They extend past this grip of iron and brick to the calm and gentle touch of the town. They weave over and under each other beneath the asphalt ceiling of Beaver Street. They are led by this historic street. A main road that connects the entire town to its surrounding boroughs and neighborhoods. A road that creates an ease of access unrivaled in this Greater Pittsburgh Region of parking lots and stoplights.
The proposed location of the new high school moves the high school to become reliant on cars and buses. This can be seen as a gift to the high schoolers, who are eager to get behind the wheel and smell the rubber-burned aroma of freedom. However, the bikers and walkers are left in their dust. They rely on ease of access to get to school. Their eco-friendly commute becomes eliminated with no possible compromise. In contrast, the current location allows for all modes of transportation to be valid and considered.
In my 16 years of schooling, I would have never thought I would challenge the institution in which I have many fond memories. These memories are filled with hilariously immature lunch table talks and spontaneous acts of school spirit. I used to cheer louder than any student at our games. Yet, I sit here and wonder if I should have.
As a teen, I had many hopes that were built in the very foundations Quaker Valley attempts to abandon; hopes that were reinforced by my local community. I hope that this same community reflects on itself before hammering the final nail in the coffin. I urge everyone to learn about each candidate running for a school board position. Their position on this project will reflect your position as well. Do not just research these candidates’ perspectives and their agendas but learn about the project entirely. Do not just take what is being flagged in common discourse. All of the school’s research is available to the public. You can make your own judgement on this school. You can become empowered and educated on how it will actually impact your community. How it will impose itself in the architectural encyclopedia of Sewickley.