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Tampa Officials Reviewing Options For Collapsed Gary School
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Published: July 24, 2008
TAMPA - City officials on Wednesday discussed how to deal with the sudden collapse this week of the former Gary Adult School, a vintage landmark in the once rural Gary community near Ybor City.
The topic likely will come up again at a Tampa City Council workshop session today.
"We're sorting legal options and we're evaluating," said City Attorney Chip Fletcher. "We want to make sure we select the one that will be most effective."
City officials also want to know what owner John Simon plans to do with what remains of the 1913 building.
Contacted Wednesday, Simon said he had not decided. "I'm trying to see if I can salvage the structure," he said.
Simon planned to develop the building as the centerpiece of a sports complex. "We really wanted the sports complex because we see the leagues, the kids, the Special Olympics. ... We wanted the sports center."
Generations of students from the Gary community passed through the hallways of the brick, onetime elementary school. The school closed in 1979 as an elementary school, then reopened as an adult high school, until the student body moved to another site. The school district sold the old building to Simon in 2005 for about $331,000.
"Gary is the only structure left to retain the original name of the community," said Jim Singleton, who lives near the former campus. "It's very important to the community and its heritage."
Building's Roof Caved In
On Tuesday morning, residents awoke to discover that the building's roof had caved in, crumbling part of the west wall and cascading debris into the school's yard. No injuries were reported.
Singleton, who lives a couple of blocks away, said he drives by at least twice a day. He took photographs last week to show city council members the building's deteriorating condition.
"I watched the windows open month after month after month," he said.
"What's really sad is we knew this was going to happen. Nothing was done to the outside of the structure. Everybody knows if you don't have a good roof, that's the most important thing."
Since May, code enforcement officials say, they have requested repairs to the school's roof, windows and doors, and asked that the building be secured. A reinspection was scheduled Aug. 12. At that point, they would decide whether to refer the matter to the code enforcement board.
Code officials on Wednesday referred questions to the city attorney's office.
A chain-link fence with "no trespassing" signs surrounds the property, but Dennis Fernandez said a May inspection of the site by staffers from the Historic Preservation Commission found troubling signs.
"This was a more deteriorated condition than we had seen in the past," said Fernandez, the commission's director. "We were very concerned. It looked like people had been going in and out of the building through the windows."
His office's inspection was triggered by Simon's rezoning application, a process that includes comments from various city departments. Fernandez said he contacted code enforcement authorities after the inspection.
Rezoning Vote Set For Oct. 23
Last Thursday, council members postponed until Oct. 23 a vote on whether to rezone the property to accommodate Simon's vision of a sports complex with an Olympic-size swimming pool and basketball and volleyball courts.
Code enforcement officials have wrestled with similar situations with other aging and historic structures in Tampa.
Fernandez said he hopes the Gary Adult School building's collapse will be a catalyst to create city codes that clearly define and regulate "demolition by neglect."
"We understand that this is something happening on a daily basis with buildings throughout the city," Fernandez said.
Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 835-2103 or ksteele@tampatrib.com. Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 835-2103 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.
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