LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Mark Romines and Mark Lynch are homeowners association board members for Valley Village, a neighborhood in southwest Louisville.
"This is my home," Romines said. "I grew up on the other side of the subdivision."
But both men fear their neighborhood is on the verge of losing its identity if a JCPS plan to close a school and move it elsewhere advances.
"It's in the middle of the subdivision," Romines said of the school. "Just like your heart, it's in the middle of your body. You pull the heart out, and you die. There's no more blood flow."
That heart he's referring to is Watson Lane Elementary School. As JCPS considers a plan to modernize schools, Watson Lane has been picked as one that might close and consolidate with another school on a new site about five miles away.
"It'll turn us into a ghost town," Lynch said.
Romines and Lynch they're already feeling the aftermath after Frost Middle School, a school now owned by LG&E's neighboring coal-fired power plant, closed a few years ago.
"It's a total desolated wasteland," Romines said, his voice breaking. "The building stands there as a skeleton. It hurts me — excuse me — it hurts me to see that building."
Romines and Lynch said their HOA is ready to fight JCPS if that's what it takes to save this school. They've already launched an online petition.
"Hopefully, some good will come out of that," Lynch said. "If not, we're going to look at some other avenues."
Those "other avenues" might include taking legal action, they say.
"My biggest fear? They close this out, and my property's value drops," Romines said.
Both said their neighborhood will die without the school it was built around.
JCPS says Watson Lane Elementary School, built in the fifties, needs major TLC and is beyond repair. (WDRB Photo)
District leaders, including the Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio, got feedback from parents during a meeting this week and reminded them that nothing is set in stone, and they're open to their ideas. Romines and Lynch are expecting district leaders at a bi-monthly meeting Monday night.
Meanwhile, LG&E said the old abandoned middle school, Frost, should be demolished in March.
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