Friday May 9, 2008

Editorial: KSD task force plan should nudge state


There is a now locally-generated plan, or the makings of one, for the property that is home to Kentucky School for the Deaf. A task force formed a little more than a year ago presented its recommendations this week to Danville City Commission. This proposal is well thought out, and we believe it should be pursued.

The 170 acres in the heart of Danville known as the KSD campus is largely unused, and the state has been sitting on something it calls a comprehensive plan for several years. It would reduce the size of the campus to 62 acres and enhance the facilities to better serve the deaf population. Much of the rest of the property would, or could, be declared surplus and sold.

We’re not sure how long a plan can remain a plan without any movement, but the state’s is approaching the need for a name change. This community seldom has that problem, and has a strong interest in making sure its deaf residents are well served and that use of whatever surplus property results is of benefit to all. Few small towns can lay any claim to such open space with such possibilities.

As we reported Wednesday, care is being taken to assure the preservation of historical structures like Jacobs Hall, and to make sure the elementary school at Third Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard is replaced with a state of the art facility. Attention also is being given to the appropriate buildings for demolition and the efficient use of the remaining property and its infrastructure.

It’s not a complicated math problem to figure out that one “developer” (a task force term) likely to be interested in that corner is Ephraim McDowell Health.

Whether the proposed “property swap” — 13 acres in exchange for a $6.5 million school — would interest the hospital board or its surrogate remains to be seen.

This attractive location should interest someone, though, and the price seems reasonable. Nothing will happen without the state’s approval, which the task force expects to begin seeking next month.

We urge the state to recognize the importance of this effort and to expedite whatever measures are necessary in the multiple levels of bureaucracy involved with the declaration of surplus property.

This community has made it clear it is willing to join hands with the deaf population to make certain its needs are more than realized, and that the future use of public property is determined in everyone’s best interest.

Copyright:The Advocate-Messenger 2008