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Broad Ripple shares opinions on future of high school building

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — What would you like to see move into the Broad Ripple High School building?

That’s the question the Broad Ripple Village Association asked people in a recent survey. Indianapolis Public Schools plans to close and sell the school.

“It was overwhelming that they wanted some type of community resource,” BRVA board member Kent Springer said.

Springer said 86 percent of the people surveyed said they’d like some kind of community resource on the property. About 70 percent said they want another school to move in.

As for residential or commercial use? Springer said very few people voted for those options.

“If a developer comes in and says we want to tear down everything and build and apartment complex, we’d say that’s not what we want in Broad Ripple,” Springer said.

The BRVA is giving input and working with IPS, but IPS will ultimately select the buyer and the school board will vote on the decision.

The district plans to sell the building for $6-8 million. An IPS spokesperson said the district is determined to find a good fit for the neighborhood.

James Turner is a Broad Ripple High School graduate with a daughter at the school.

“The community has spoken,” Turner said. “I am optimistic. Because I think, in a community like Broad Ripple, (the locals) have a big say and a big stake in what goes on in their neighborhood.”

IPS said they have not taken any bids yet.

Springer said some non-IPS schools have shown interest, but he won’t say which schools.

He said 77 percent of the people who took the survey live in or near Broad Ripple. The BRVA surveyed people in person and online.

IPS plans to pour the money from the school sale back into the remaining schools.

The district released the following statement Wednesday.

“Indianapolis Public Schools has not made any decisions regarding the sale of Broad Ripple High School and will not make any decisions until mid-2018. The IPS Real Estate Advisory Committee is committed to creating a positive impact for the surrounding properties, the neighborhood, the City of Indianapolis and IPS. We will open the market to receive every re-development idea so we can make a fully-informed decision at a later date.”