Houston City Council voted to try and help preserve an historic building in the East End–Rufus Cage Elementary. The 101 year-old building had a wrecking ball headed right for it when HISD Trustee Juliet Stipeche gave a boost to community members who supported its preservation.
The old Cage Elementary School on Telephone Road has been vacant for 12 years and has not served students since 1983. Houston Independent School District has been trying to sell it for eight years. The district had considered selling the property to a developer with plans to raze the 101-year-old structure. Trustee Juliet Stipeche asked Mayor Annise Parker for the city to step in and save it.
The Historic Rufus Cage Educational Alliance, whose members call themselves the Cage Fighters, intends to raise money for repairs and recruit organizations to use the school for educational purposes, such as public health outreach or performing arts events.
Of course, there is still money to be raised for the improvements to the building, but this is a great opportunity to make a beautiful historic building into a centerpiece of the community. If anything, something like this would spur added development and community improvement efforts.
Congrats to Trustee Stipeche and the Cage Fighters for their efforts. And a big thanks to Mayor Parker and City Council.
Unfortunately, Trustee Juliet Stipeche is being challenged by an opponent affiliated with the fringes of the right wing who never support these efforts and are to blame for the Republican Texas Legislature’s short-changing of our school budgets this academic year. With all of the challenges faced by the school district, in only one year as Trustee, Juliet Stipeche has led efforts to increase parental involvement and has made tough decisions while advocating for those targeted for budget cuts (students and teachers). Can you imagine what Juliet Stipeche will accomplish during a full term in office?
Surely the opposition will only fail teachers and students, much like Rick Perry and the Republicans have.
Early Voting is happening right now. As we head into the weekend and next week, the voting hours expand. Here’s a link to the schedule and map of voting locations.
