Final bell hasn't tolled for historic Sumner
State historical society pact bars school's razing
By Tim
Hrenchir
The
Capital-Journal
Published
Friday, June 22, 2007
Topeka's historic Sumner School
won't go under the wrecking ball anytime soon, a Kansas State Historical Society
official said Thursday.
The historical society and the
city in 2002 agreed to a covenant running through Sept. 11, 2012, that bans the
city without written consent from the state from undertaking any activity that
would affect the building's architectural appearance and structural integrity,
said Patrick Zollner, the historical society's director of historic
preservation.
File Photograph / The
Capital-Journal / The Capital-Journal
The former Sumner School can't
be demolished until at least September 2012, according to the state historical
society.
"The society would never
consent to the demolition of Sumner School," said Zollner, who also is deputy
state historic preservation officer.
Zollner provided The Topeka
Capital-Journal with a copy of a "declaration of historic preservation" covenant
with the historical society that was signed by then-Mayor Butch Felker on Aug.
29, 2002.
City attorney Brenden Long said
city council approval wasn't required to enter into the covenant.
"The document is connected with
a historic preservation grant to help fund the maintenance and repair of the
facility," Long said. "The mayor was empowered to apply for and accept these
grants on behalf of the city and, by extension, could sign the documents
associated with receiving said grants."
The covenant can be amended or
released only by mutual written agreement. Its wording indicates the city
accepted its restrictions as part of an agreement through which the city
received a historic preservation grant to preserve the building.
Zollner said the historical
society is hoping to arrange a meeting with city officials to discuss
circumstances surrounding a move the council made late Tuesday. Without taking a
vote, the council authorized the city staff to begin the process of demolishing
the Sumner School building.
No council members objected as
Deputy Mayor Brett Blackburn directed city manager Norton Bonaparte to have the
city initiate paperwork to have the building demolished and to inform two groups
seeking to use the school at 330 S.W. Western Ave. that they have five months to
show they are financially capable of acquiring and renovating it.
Sumner School, which is on the
National Register of Historic Places, was linked to the historic Brown v Board
of Education desegregation case decided by the Supreme Court in 1954.
The school was closed by Topeka
Unified School District 501 as part of a desegregation plan in 1996. The Topeka
and Shawnee County Public Library bought the building for $40,000 the following
year and used it for storage. In 2002, the library sold the school for $45,000
to the city, which has since been trying to find someone to use the building.
The city this year received
requests from two applicants, Pioneer Group Inc. and Community First Inc., that
wish to use the school. Deputy city manager Randy Speaker told the council
Tuesday that both offered viable ideas for using the building but fell "very
short" of showing they are financially capable of renovating and operating it.
Ross Freeman is owner and
president of Pioneer Group, which seeks to renovate the building, put in senior
housing and build townhomes nearby. Former USD 501 principal Sandra Lassiter is
executive director of Community First, which hopes to make it a multipurpose
community center that would include health services, a charter school, a day
care center and a senior center.
Speaker said Thursday that city
administrators plan to meet with both groups to discuss the financial parts of
their applications and what they will need to submit to demonstrate financial
feasibility.
Tim Hrenchir can be
reached at (785) 295-1184 or
tim.hrenchir@cjonline.com.
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