11_10_10 process update

Here is a simple description of what I am currently up to.

Seeking programmatic response and input:

On Monday I emailed the principals of ten potential members of the confederacy with a brief description and asked them if I could talk to them some time. None have gotten back to me. I also sent the idea to two people John C. pointed me to, one runs a charter school consultancy firm and the other is the director of the New Schools Office in the Minneapolis Public Schools.

To further clarify my understanding of the building:

I went to North High this morning to document the structure and to talk to a few people.

• The librarian loves the idea of a media center that serves students and the community at large, but found my proposal of no student body confusing. She wanted to talk about funding, ownership, and boundaries. What I am proposing crosses traditional physical and funding boundaries and she said it is way outside of the box. Who would pay her salary?
• The cop says tear the whole building down and start over, the division into two separate buildings with skyway connections is a security nightmare. The kids work it to their advantage when they are up to no good and he is frustrated by how long it takes him to respond to a call on the other side of the campus. It is a security nightmare.
• The principal told me he didn't want me coming around until I talked to the facilities people at the DO (they are the ones who gave me the floor plans). He understandably looked at my proposal with some confusion and looked at me with a scrutinous eye, sort of a "who are you , why are you here, what are you up to, and what do you want from me" sort of thing. I left him my name, a copy of my proposal, and my email, he said he would get back to me.
• The structural system is identical to the old Rapson.

Near future actions and questions:

• I want to give the request for input on the program a few days to see if anyone is willing to talk to me about it.
• I am/was planning on making a model of the structure of the building that I could then manipulate and play with to explore possibilities in the mean time.
• I have been operating on the assumption that my intervention should take place in that building, an adaptive reuse project. THIS MAY NEED TO BE QUESTIONED. I have been wondering what trying to create a public node in the middle of the residential neighborhood does. Should such a place be up on the commercial street (Broadway)? What does this almost Palladian object in a field produce and is it a good thing?
• I have been having a sneaking feeling that I am avoiding - there need to be students on site

That is where I am at, have a new idea brewing about the program I will illustrate, any and all feedback is welcome.