Our ability to ignore things

Samantha Swindler

Corbin has long had a problem admitting this simple fact — there are a lot of poor people here. 

And maybe community leaders should take more initiative in helping them.

There are some supposed pillars of this community (you know who you are) who make part of their money renting slum houses to the poorest families in town. They show up to chamber meetings, serve on public boards and talk about this community’s growth while at the same time providing substandard housing for local residents. 

We turn a blind eye to it — and to local poverty in general. Sure, we support Christmas toy drives, but I doubt many worry about those kids the rest of the year.

This is the detrimental kind of pride. 

And it’s a community problem much greater than the eventual subject of this column — Corbin East School — but it speaks to how we deal with the problems of poverty in Corbin.

A few months ago, Dora Mobley with the Corbin Housing Authority approached the Corbin Board of Education about donating the former Corbin East School to the authority, which hoped to turn it into much needed low-income housing. 

Last month, the board was told that such a donation would be illegal, according to the Kentucky Department of Education, which cited parts of the Kentucky Constitution that bar state public property or funds from being used for private purposes (tell this to University of the Cumberlands, but I digress...)

But I find it hard to believe that there’s nothing the school board can do to support this project, so after a few lengthy conversations with KDE spokespersons, I’ve found two remaining options for at least some kind of public use of that building.

First, though the district cannot “give” the building away, it can lease it to whomever it wants, for however long it wants — say, for $1 for 99 years — with the lessee responsible for all repairs, upkeep and insurance. This is how the Whitley County School Board turned the old Nevisdale school into the Nevisdale Community Center.

Would a long-term lease be enough for the Corbin Housing Authority to seek the grants it would need to revamp that building for housing? I’m not sure. But it would surely be enough for some kind of community association to take possession of the building — a building that, according to the last appraisal, isn’t worth a dime.

The value is in the acres of land around the building — land that the district could still partition off and sell.

A few people I’ve talked to have expressed an interest in preserving Corbin East School, but turned up their noses at the idea of making it low-income housing. They see a community meeting room or an arts center as a more desirable addition. 

Any one of these options is better than what’s going to happen if the school board simply sells Corbin East — in all likelihood, another historical building will be demolished.

But when we’re talking about making this community better, the most basic place to start is the home. Whether or not Corbin East can become the next housing complex, let’s at least admit to ourselves that more quality low-income housing (run by an agency not seeking to profit from it) is needed in this area. 

CHA is trying to provide safe, clean housing for people who otherwise might be stuck renting a dilapidated house from a lazy entrepreneur who’s inflating everyone’s rent in this town in order to collect more monthly money from HUD.

When close to half of students in the school district are eligible for free and reduced lunches, it’s not that great of a leap for the Corbin Board of Education to take an interest in making sure these same children have a safe and stable home environment. 

These are their people. 

Forgive me, but if I didn’t try to force one more discussion about Corbin East, I’d be filled with the same regret I felt over the demolished 1919 Saint Camillus building.

I want the Corbin Board of Education to really think about this decision — and to be open about it. I want them to give reasons why they would rather sell the property than to allow part of it (only part of it) to be used for another public purpose.

And they do have reasons — the costs for expanding Corbin High School and building Corbin Primary; the fact that the board chose not to raise taxes this year; and that KDE plans to cut $20 million from its budget this fiscal year, possibly effecting local districts’ share of state funding. 

But the community is entitled to those explanations. And if Corbin East is lost, don’t blame the state because we didn’t look at alternatives... or because school board members would rather quietly ignore the issue than explain a difficult decision to the public that elected them.

To bring this full circle, building preservation is community development, and community development helps education.

How much of the district’s effort and funding is spent in helping bring up the scores of that all-important No Child Left Behind subgroup — the economically disadvantaged?

If we add more affordable housing, remember that a child with a more stable home life can be a better learner.

And, if the site were to become a community center, remember that a child exposed to arts and culture is a more engaged student.

Superintendent Ed McNeel said the board has asked that the Corbin East property be reappraised, “because the last appraisal was a couple of years ago and the market’s changed quite a bit in the last few years.” That appraisal valued the property at $892,000 — a figure I highly question, but I’m no certified appraiser. A new survey of the property will also consider breaking it up into two or three parcels for easier sale — and I hope there’s at least some discussion of leasing the parcel with the building to a community group who wants it.

If there’s a group who wants to work on it, I’m willing to put in the time to help... and put up a few dollars for rent.

Samantha Swindler is the managing editor of the Times-Tribune. She can be reached at sswindler@thetimestribune.com

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