When I first became involved with the School for Creative and Performing Arts building planning team in 2001, the plan was that the building would face on to Central Parkway toward WCET and would be next to Music Hall. There was not a great deal of discussion regarding how the new building might influence the OTR community, just that the new building would reflect the architecture of the surrounding area.
I was not involved with the project for four years until December 2009 when I was chosen to be principal, but soon learned that the new building was being looked at as a "gateway" to the new Over the Rhine neighborhood. While I understood what that meant, I had no realization of the magnitude to which the new school location and building were being counted on to help renovate and rejuvenate the community.
In past weeks I have come to have a better understanding of the impact people are hoping the school and building will make for everyone. I have had the opportunity to attend meet and greets at various locations, most recently at the
Emmanuel Community Center which hosted a reception to welcome me as the principal of SCPA to the community. While the event was an opportunity for me to explain my vision for the school in its new location, it was the question and answer period following my presentation that allowed me to fully appreciate the faith individuals and community groups are putting in the school.
Questions ranged from how the school plans to interact with the community at large; to how the building will operate in general; to does the school have plans to bring community children who are not SCPA students into the building for after school kinds of programs or possibly as students in the future.
The questions were all very legitimate, and ideas expressed were wonderful. What I left the meeting with was a fuller understanding of what the community and organizations within the larger community expects of SCPA.
It is early in the process, and I did not have answers to all of the questions asked, but the one thing I can say is that SCPA wants to be a good neighbor, we want to interact in positive, productive, and beneficial ways to and with the community, and we want to help make the Over the Rhine community a better place for everyone.