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Fredericksburg residents testify to Planning Commission, say Maury School isn't worth saving. Date published: 12/15/2005
By EMILY BATTLE Not everybody thinks it's a great idea for the City Council to sell the former Maury School to a private developer. Five city residents spoke at a hearing the Fredericksburg Planning Commission held last night to gauge public opinion before it writes an amendment to the city Comprehensive Plan that would authorize selling Maury. The City Council sought the amendment because it has asked private developers to make pitches for buying and reusing the property. The council has not specified what uses it would like to see at Maury, but it has indicated that it wants part of the building retained for public use. Many of the speakers during last night's hearing said they wouldn't shed a tear if the big brick building that looms at the end of George Street was demolished. "Our neighborhood would benefit from taking that building down," said Craig Vasey, president of the Maury Neighborhoods Association. "Put a park there." Anne Little, who lives on William Street, and accesses her property from the gravel road that runs behind Maury, didn't have a deep attachment to the building, either. "The building is old, it's ugly, it's got vines on it," she said. "Knock the building down. We need the green space downtown." Along with their lack of attachment to the old school, both Little and Vasey were concerned about how bringing Maury back to life could worsen the parking problems in their neighborhoods. Little said that every day, 10 to 20 people park along the road behind Maury, and with overflow parking from local businesses--including The Free Lance-Star--crowding the streets, she doesn't see where cars at a Maury office complex would park. She wondered how any private use would interact with the Maury stadium next door. "Who on earth is going to want to live next to or have an office next to a football stadium?" she said. The city didn't include the stadium or adjoining parkland in the property it lists for sale in the request for proposals released last month. But one of last night's speakers suggested that maybe it should. Butch Wimmer, president of Trolley Tours of Fredericksburg, said the entire Maury complex--including the school and field--is probably the most valuable piece of property the city owns.
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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