Turning Point Academy Wants Greenbelt Middle School

How would you utilize the 123,000 square feet now known as Greenbelt Middle School? That was the question posed last night in a cafeteria at Springhill Lake Elementary, where nearly one hundred people turned up in the last of three public hearings over a facility that will be vacated next fall. 

The hearing, largely meant to elicit input from residents of Greenbelt West, drew in scores of adults and children in support of Turning Point Academy, a charter school located along the 7800 block of Good Luck Road. Meanwhile, only a handful of residents from the immediate area turned up to express their desires.

Prior to fielding input, the city-council sponsored task force that organized the meeting outlined two possibilities for the building: One would provide educational services, including tutoring and academic support programs aimed at both youths and adults; The other would be more “community comprehensive” in nature, offering art, recreation, childcare and senior services, among other things.

Still, plans for the facility could go any number of ways, said David Lange, task force chairman. Lange also said more than once, the process of planning and rehabbing the facility could take a few years — at best.  “There’s a whole series of steps that start with our task force.”

Such comments didn’t deter Paul Shackelford, chairman of Turning Point Academy (TPA), who made no bones about what he — and most everyone else in attendance — would like to see materialize. What we have here, he said, is a group of people who “would love to acquire” the building for Turning Point Academy.

At present, the Greenbelt Middle School facility is owned by the Prince George’s County Board of Education, which may do any number of things with the property, including renting the building out to a charter school such as Turning Point Academy or outright giving the property up to the county. The county could then opt to sell the property to the city of Greenbelt at a nominal price.

Lois Browne, one of only a handful of Franklin Park residents who turned up in support of a community center, implored the task force to include services aimed at children. “I don’t mind Turning Point Academy wanting part of the building,” she said. “But for so long Greenbelt West has been so disconnected from Greenbelt.”

“We need something, too,” she said, specifically referring to more adequate parks and perhaps a pool on par with the one found in Old Greenbelt.

For her part, Beatrice Rodgers, task force vice chair, said she hopes to establish a plan that meets the broadest needs of the community. But that won’t be easy, she cautioned, given the capital and operating costs of both renovating and maintaining the facility.

“I could want the moon,” she quipped.

According to documents, the capital costs of simply repairing the facility drew a $15 million estimate in 2008, to say nothing of the expense associated with sprucing up the building and operating costs.

Based on the annual budget of the community center located in Old Greenbelt, the task force estimates that using all 93,000 square feet of middle school’s “useable space” would run $1.25 million annually.

Lange, who said he felt strongly that “at least part of the building must be used for community services,” aims to provide the city council with an interim report on the task force’s findings by early June. From there, the county Board of Education expects its own report from the city council in August.

City Councilwoman Leta Mach was present during the hearing.