Englewood -- More than a dozen people took to the microphone at the city council meeting this week asking officials to allow Liberty School to be converted into a performing arts academy.
The members of the public cited the benefits of such a school, including its positive impact on city children, businesses and historical preservation. They also asked the council to reconsider having the Planning Board decide if the area is in need of redevelopment, or blighted. They believe that distinction will open the area up to more housing.
The Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) has been working to create an academy for the arts in Englewood for five years, called the Magnet School for the Performing Arts at Liberty School, according to Chairman Frank Huttle. The academy would be a fully accredited public performing arts high school until 3 p.m. when it would then house an after-school program.
Huttle said the academy would be "an incredible opportunity that would bring tremendous pride to our city while helping to affect a positive change on the lives of thousands of disadvantaged children."
Former Englewood Mayor Sandy Greenberg offered some history, explaining that in the late 1970s or early 1980s Janis Dismus, whom the middle school is named after, proposed converting the building next to the library into a school for the arts. At that time, the council decided against that idea and instead created the current municipal court building.
"I just hope we can finally have a place like what Janis Dismus wanted," Greenberg said. "To have these two entities [the Liberty School and bergenPAC] in town and not take advantage of them is insanity."
Michael Polizzi, assistant superintendent for Englewood public schools, also spoke out in favor of the plan. "I would like to see this come to fruition," he said. "Having a center for arts education has tremendous value across the spectrum."
In addition to the perceived value to students, many believe the academy will also help the local economy. Jay Agresta, an owner of Benzel-Busch Motor Car Corp. in Englewood, said the school would do a better job of providing "prudent growth" than housing or other commercial development.
The council, however, is still awaiting the Planning Board’s decision on the redevelopment issue, more than three months after asking for its input.
Some residents took offense to the suggestion that the Liberty School area needs redeveloping. "There’s a lot of history and sentimentality here," resident Violet Cherry said. "The 3rd Ward is not blighted."
Mayor Michael Wildes, also a member of the Planning Board, told the public he wasn’t convinced the property is in need of redevelopment.
"I think this use is magnanimous," Wildes said. "The problem is it’s a public piece of property."
Council President Ken Rosenzweig said officials are "looking into the legality" of creating a school with city-owned property. "Typically building new schools are done via city referendum," he said.
For now, the decision about redevelopment remains with the Planning Board, which has scheduled a public hearing about the issue for Jan. 8.
Wildes hopes to accelerate that process. While he wants to preserve the façade of Liberty School and doesn’t want to see more housing brought to the area, he said, "I don’t want the property value to go down."
Amelia Gold, lifelong Englewood resident and music teacher, believes money should not be the sole consideration in the decision. "The children of Englewood have been denied the basic right of getting an arts education that affluent kids get," she said. "This should not have a price tag."
