The Rogers School District’s debate over use of school buildings and how much to charge makes us lament the days when schools were truly centers of the community activity, including after school. Hefty charges put the facilities out of reach for many community organizations, who already face a shortage of space for groups that create a strong foundation for the community.
s offcials are wrong to focus on their core mission of educating children. Tighter budgets, security and liability help drive a lack of interest in preserving school buildings as community facilities. Many valuedgroups simply don’t have $100 to spend for one hour in a meeting room.
As area cities develop new facilities for a variety of purposes - library expansions, court buildings and the like - it’s worthwhile to also consider the pressing need for free or cheap space community groups can access. Leaders need to be good stewards of resources, but cities, schools and counties should also promote the gathering of community groups so vital to quality of life, volunteerism and interrelation of neighbors.
MORE ON THE FARMERS MARKET Our editorial Wednesday urged the Fayetteville City Council to be careful in its consideration of authorizing a major expansion of the Farmers Market to include the entire square on Saturdays. The point was it’s possible to grow a special community event, as the market has become, beyond the point that preserves its charm. In that piece, we noted the Farmers Market had at some point closed Mountain Street without the same legal authority it has, through city ordinance, to close East Avenue each Saturday.
While that’s true, we’re now aware that the semi-permanent Saturday closing of Mountain Street had legally authorized origins. A few years ago, the police chief closed Mountain Street during Saturday markets because the evolution of the market had created such pedestrian traff c on the street it became too dangerous for both cars and people. For some time, police off cers dutifully blocked the street, but as happens with casual, open-ended arrangements, the Farmers Market eventually took over setting up the barriers across Mountain Street. Without the legal process of City Council approval for long-term street closings, the arrangement simply became a part of the Farmers Market mode of operation.
This understanding is important in the current context of an alderman’s proposal to close all four streets that create the square for Saturday markets. Ventures such as the Farmers Market can experience what one might call “mission creep,” in which boundaries get pushed. It points out the need for the City Council and Farmers Market to clearly delineate the parameters within which the Farmers Market will operate on the public square. Such permanent arrangements, if they are to be so, should be a policy decision of the City Council.
Alderman Matthew Petty has opened the City Council discussion with his proposal. By virtue of the market’s location, the City Council is a direct partner in determining what the Farmers Market experience, such a vital part of Fayetteville’s culture, will be. It’s time to clarify formally what the city is comfortable with the Farmers Market becoming.
Opinion, Pages 5 on 04/27/2013