The city of Red Bank gathers input from residents on what should be done with the former Red Bank Middle School property during a December forum on the topic. (Staff photo by Emily Crisman)Formal plans for the former Red Bank Middle School property may not yet be on the table, but Mayor John Roberts said he hopes to break ground on the project by 2018.
In the nearly two years since the city gained control of the property, multiple public input sessions have been held to try to determine the best use. Roberts said part of the city's goal for the property is to give people a reason to slow down when passing through the central business district; not by lowering the speed limit, but by making people want to take the time to look around at what Red Bank has to offer.
Part of the holdup in actually implementing that plan, whatever it may look like, involves the land swap that took place in 2011 in order to build the new Red Bank Middle School. The 14 acres where the school now sits, located behind Red Bank High School, had previously been developed into recreational softball fields using federal dollars designated for recreation. The U.S. Department of the Interior allowed the city to sell the land to the Hamilton County Department of the Education to house the new school, on the condition that the city develop new park space elsewhere in Red Bank.
At that time the city had planned to put the park on a portion of the old middle school property on Dayton Boulevard. Now, the city now plans to approach Congressman Chuck Fleischmann's office about the possibility of putting the park space on a portion of the 10 acres on Stringer's Ridge that the Trust for Public Land proposed donating to the city last year, but which the city has yet to acquire, said City Recorder Ruthie Rohen.
That would add to the possibilities for development of the former middle school property, which Roberts said will definitely be developed, as Red Bank already has a large amount of green space for a city of its size, and some sort of development would add to city coffers in property and sales tax dollars.
While the form that will take is still undetermined, the city knows what will definitely not be put there.
"It's not going to be a strip mall, and it's not going to be apartments," Roberts assured attendees at the most recent public input session in December.
That doesn't mean he hasn't been approached by developers interested in putting a strip mall on the property, he said.
"Any developer you talk to will tell you it's the largest, flattest property available close to downtown," said Roberts, as to why the property is attractive to developers.
Attendees' suggestions for the space included a mixed-use development with office space on the lower level and high-end residential space on the upper level.
"If you built something nice and high-end, it would make people want to stay here and do their business," said one resident, adding that a community theater or other public space that could be rented out for events could be beneficial for the city.
Another attendee said he eats out all the time, and would love to be able to do so without leaving Red Bank.
Commissioners plan to discuss their next steps in the process of developing the old middle school property at their Feb. 7 work session, to be held at City Hall at noon.
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.