Community Gives Input on School Building's Future

Residents of Waverly and Ednor Gardens-Lakeside, with help from the Greater Homewood Community Corporation, fought for several years to build a new Waverly elementary and middle school.

The question now is what to do with the old Venable Building, which houses Waverly Middle School at 36th and Frisby streets, once students are moved out in 2013.

Residents met Tuesday to begin the dialogue on the building's future use. The meeting made some things immediately clear. Residents do not want the building used for a commercial center or for a new school.

Residents said they would like to see the building used for a community resource center or for nonprofit offices, or even torn down and turned into green space.

Alicia Lucksted, 44, said she was glad community members were getting together to articulate what they wanted to see happen to the building.

“It seems like in the room there’s a pretty clear consensus of [residents wanting] mixed community use,” Lucksted, of Waverly, said.  

Iris Kirsch, 29, said it was a positive sign that the community was gathering to discuss the future of the building so early in the process.

Kirsch, of Waverly, said she understands that the Baltimore City public school system will want to get the property off its books as soon as possible. But she was confident the neighborhood could convince the district to have the building used in a way the community deems positive.

“I have a lot of faith in our community to stand up for our needs,” Kirsch said.

Regina Boyce, president of the Waverly Improvement Association, shared the optimism that the building would be used for something the community finds reasonable.    

“If we can come together and get the school built, then we can come together to fight for this building, if it’s worth fighting for,” Boyce said.

The old Venable Building was constructed in 1959 as a special education vocational high school, and was not intended for use by middle-school students.

The Waverly community has been fighting for a new school since its students were redistricted away from attending Roland Park Elementary and Middle School. At that time the community was promised a school on par with Roland Park.