The Truth Staff
Toledo Public Schools broke ground on the new education, recreation and residential development on the Scott Park campus last Thursday morning as board members, elected officials and numerous officials and education leaders from around the area joined in the celebration.
“What we are doing is monumental,” said Robert Vasquez, president of the Toledo Board of Education. “We are going where no other K-12 school districts haven’t gone.”
The Scott Park campus, which has been acquired by TPS, will be converted into a state-of-the-art campus featuring three new magnet schools including a college of business academy; a college of education and social services academy (training teachers, school counselors and fire fighters, etc) and a construction and architectural academy.
In addition, the plans call for onsite-partnerships with Owens Community College and the University of Toledo bringing high school through higher education opportunities; the construction of numerous recreational facilities plus residential housing for faculty, staff and community
The $100 million Scott Park project will include a fitness center, dining hall, recreational athletic dome, administrative suites, outdoor and indoor construction training facilities, the three academies, child-care center, ministry office and a fishing pond, among other amenities. The campus will also be a part of a two-park system that is connected to Ottawa Park via the bike trail.
An $84 million annual return to the community is anticipated from the project via the new opportunities and work being done at Scott Park. It will bring an estimated 3,000 jobs to the campus.
The cost for the project was made possible when Toledo voters approved Issue 19 in the last November’s general elections, the first time TPS had asked voters to approve a levy for new funds in 11 years.
“Toledo is being perceived on a national scale of being innovative and doing things differently,” said TPS Superintendent Romules Durant, EdD. “We are providing opportunities for this current generation and for future generations as well.”
Last week’s event was a ceremony to break ground for the first phase of the new facility – the educational academies that Rudolph Libbe will be constructing.
“Toledo should be proud – this is a great place and TPS is going to make it even greater,” said Vasquez.