A 9/30/07 letter to the editor in The Daily Times proposed using remote parking lots and shuttle buses to Maryville High School as an alternative to paving over the neighborhood surrounding the high school in order to expand the school's capacity.

While I respect this forward-thinking transportation solution, I think we need to refocus the conversation. I am dismayed that we are talking about transportation solutions before education solutions. We need to pull these issues apart.

We exhaust ourselves planning for our cars. We seem unable to separate conceptually human beings from the steel that transports them. We conflate cars and citizenship, and we build communities that require people to have access to cars in order to fully participate in the community. We plan as if hospitality to cars in our downtowns or high schools or neighborhoods is the same as hospitality to people.

The truth is that too often we build spaces and host activities that aren't worth much of a commitment. We'll only participate or shop or eat when it is easy...when the commitment requires little more than the time it takes to navigate our cars through drive-through windows or into curbside pick-up spaces.

On the other hand, there are spaces and activities that are worth our commitment, and we participate even if car access isn't easy. We figure out how to get there because we want to be there. As a community we need to focus on building spaces and hosting activities worth caring about...worth committing to. Transportation to those spaces and activities will follow.

Let's make the Maryville High School expansion discussion about education. When we figure out the best way(s) to educate our children, there will be myriad ways of dealing with transportation. The transportation solution should follow and fit the education solution.

There's a public input meeting tonight for residents in the Maryville High neighborhood to discuss future plans for the school. The meeting is at MHS, 7PM tonight (Monday the 17th).

As noted here by Amber Proffitt, there are also School Board meetings and forums tomorrow regarding this and other topics. Check Amber's post for the schedule and more details.

Depending on which plan is selected, the MHS expansion could have a huge impact on the neighborhood around the existing school. The Knoxville News Sentinel has an article about it in today's paper.

See this earlier BlountViews post for photos from around the neighborhood and some of the historic homes that could be affected.

The Maryville Daily Times has this news brief about the upcoming meetings.

As Flower mentioned here recently, there is ongoing controversy regarding the Maryville High expansion plans. Everyone seems to agree that additional capacity is needed. Not everyone agrees on how to accomplish that.

Architects and planners hired by the City have developed five alternate proposals, at least two of which require taking of nearby property by eminent domain. The neighborhood around the existing school consists of period and craftsman style homes of historical significance to downtown Maryville and its traditions.

One of the proposals, "option E", would take out at least one city block and possibly part or all of another. This is the plan that the City's consultants seem to be pushing.

It would be a shame to further damage the character of this neighborhood. In our opinion, one of the alternatives for a new, second high school would better meet Maryville's needs going forward and preserve what's left of the neighborhoods around the existing school. What do you think?

You can read more about the evolution of the expansion plan here, including links to news articles and a presentation on the five proposals made to City Council and the School Board in June.

This issue will be decided soon, possibly in September, so the City needs citizen input to make an informed decision that protects the interests of all who will be affected. City Council contact info is here, School Board contact info is here.

To give you an idea of the existing character of the neighborhood and what is at risk, attached are photos of some of the endangered homes and others from around the affected neighborhood . Click "read more" to view them...