LORAIN — Lorain citizens discussed more possibilities Thursday night for the location of the new high school.

A fourth — or fifth, if you count using the current Admiral King High School site — location was thrown into the mix.

That new location would be east of Broadway, south of another proposed site along the Black River.

The meeting in City Council chambers was led by Rick Novak of the Port Authority and architect Gary Fischer, both of whom led the first meeting on March 4.

Resident Dave Kramer said he liked the new proposed site, as fewer residents would be displaced and it had easy access from all directions, being near Broadway, state Route 57 and the Henderson Bridge.

He is opposed to using the site along the Black River, much of which belongs to the Port Authority. That, he said, is more suited for commercial development, such as a cargo port.

Other concerns about the riverfront site included the size of the lot, if it could accommodate a sports complex and other facilities as well as the high school, the possible loss of the rail line and the cost of dealing with the overhead high-voltage lines nearby.

Mike Beatty of Lorain said the riverfront area was ideal for a high school anchoring a larger community development, as businesses around it would benefit.

The two sites west of Broadway would offer the advantages of tearing down blighted areas, but some residents wondered if the cost of buying that land, demolishing the buildings and setting it up for a campus would be too high.

Ideas for what would go with a new high school included a sports complex, recreation center and ice rink.

John Wargo said all the ideas people were discussing were just dreams.

“We don’t have the money or the support,” he said. “We couldn’t even afford Lakeview Park.”

Wargo said the best option is building where Admiral King is.

“It’s there, it’s paid for, the utilities are in place,” he said.

Karen Edwards said the focus should be on just building the new high school.

“I see no reason why it has to be this large campus,” she said, “especially if you’re displacing people and destroying existing neighborhoods.”

Eighteen-year-old Spencer Roule, who attends Elyria Catholic, said there just wasn’t money to buy the land to build a high school, much less a larger campus.

“Put the school in a residential area and put a rec center where the businesses are,” he said.

School board member Paul Biber reminded the crowd that the $70 million the city has can only go toward a high school. Funds for other development will have to come from elsewhere.

Biber added that a recreation center, such as the Family First Sports Park in Erie, Pa., could bring in money and jobs. Family First Sports Park is an 80-acre facility that hosts fitness, golf, soccer, football, lacrosse, basketball, volleyball and other recreation. It hosts tournaments in sports such as soccer, basketball and cheerleading.

School attorney Anthony Giardini talked about touring communities where the high school was part of a larger campus, including Twinsburg, Greene and Glen Oak High School in Plain Township outside of Canton.

At Hudson, the school’s gym facilities were part of a larger recreation center that could be used by the community. Glen Oak, he said, had both a library and a rec center on the campus.

By sharing the expenses and operating expenses with a library and rec center, Giardini said, the school district could save money while providing more services, maybe even a swimming pool.

The next meeting to discuss ideas will be 1 to 3 p.m. March 21 at Longfellow Middle School.

Contact Melissa Hebert at 329-7129 or mhebert@chroniclet.com.

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