Letter: Writer suggests alternative uses for M.D. Shannon building

(Editor's note: Virgil Allen wrote this letter to the Morgan City government concerning the plan to sell M.D. Shannon Elementary to the city and develop 16 residential lots on the property.)

Dear Mayor Dragna and Councilmen:
Please allow me this opportunity to present to you an idea for the Shannon School property. I see a real need for something that will increase the quality of life for the residents of Morgan City. Through the years, many of our residents have moved to Berwick, Bayou Vista, and Patterson to obtain a better quality of life, and in many cases because of greater recreational facilities for themselves and their children. Let’s provide a benefit to those residents who have remained here.
I also believe that the construction of sixteen new houses will not attract any new residents to Morgan City but will instead see a shuffling of thirty-two, or more, of our existing residents as sixteen families are going to move into the new neighborhood while sixteen other families move into those newly vacated houses and then sixteen families into those houses. You see the pattern, a pattern we have seen several times before with previous new neighborhoods. Instead, I think that the city should work better with new homebuilders through zoning regulations, and other acceptable means, to better utilize existing empty lots and blighted properties.
The school buildings can be utilized as a business center. Some of the classrooms can be used as an incubator facility with each classroom becoming a place of business for a new entrepreneur giving them an opportunity to start a new business at a low cost. Also, since the classrooms are quite large, they could even be divided into smaller spaces which would provide even more areas for small business entrepreneurs and bring in even more revenue. These spaces can provide an area to create, manufacture, and market a product, process, or program. Once established, and successful, they can move into a local building allowing a new entrepreneur to utilize the space. Other classrooms can be occupied as office space by established businesses.
I suggest that the gym, kitchen, cafeteria, band room, and the playground together be transformed into a supervised recreational facility with areas and activities for all ages. The gym can continue to be used for basketball, shuffleboard, and pickle ball, while also now being available for other sport activities and functions. The stage can be refurbished and utilized for plays and concerts. The kitchen can provide concessions for all the activities going on and also be available for meals, parties, and banquets. The cafeteria and the band room can be used for indoor activities, crafts, etc, for all ages. The playground can contain several supervised play areas with playground equipment suitable for various age groups such as toddlers, preschool, older children, and handicapped children. It could also have a water spray park for all ages, a ropes course, a children’s zip-line course, a skate park, pickle ball courts, shelters with picnic tables, and many other activities for all ages.
These ideas are only suggestions to consider and discuss along with other recreational possibilities. This area has been a playground for over one hundred years and should remain a recreational area for the residents of Morgan City. I am also concerned with the probability of the loss of several old established trees within the schoolyard.
I feel that before the City builds a new neighborhood, the City needs to improve the quality of life for the residents that are already here, which we wish to keep here, while hopefully helping to attract new ones. I also understand from the consultants recently brought in to do workshops and consulting that there are many other available properties in town for new housing.
Thankfully Yours,
Virgil Allen
Morgan City