Monticello Live

In what once were halls loud with giggles, energy, and enthusiasm there is now an ethereal silence. It’s broken only by the occasional drip of water falling from holes in the ceiling to land upon the sodden tiles below. W.C. Whaley has been vacant since the 1999-2000 school year. That was the last year the school housed students and faculty. In 2000, the elementary school was relocated to a new facility, named Monticello Elementary School (MES) on Scogin Drive.

In the fall of 2001, the city purchased W.C. Whaley from the school district at a cost of $140,000. Stated intentions at the time were to relocate the city offices, fire station, and other civil services to the facility after a renovation. It never happened. After 5 years of sitting untended by the city, the former school reminds one these days of a structure that’s been hit by a tornado – from the inside.

In the past six months alone, pieces of W.C. Whaley have literally walked away, carried out by looters and others who knew the value of what was within. Empty insulation sheaths that once housed copper pipe litter the hallways of both classroom wings. It’s estimated that upwards of $15-$20,000 worth of copper pipe has been removed from the building without protest. Copper became a valuable commodity in the past year. (See linked image for copper price increase.) Doors, wood paneling, air conditioner parts, and other fixtures have also slowly exited the building.More pictures here.

Doors that once welcomed children at the beginning of each school year now hang on their hinges, many of them opened inward, standing in a sea of glass that they once contained. Windows throughout the facility are broken. Walls and chalkboards are spray painted with misspelled graffiti, making one ponder the irony of the lack of education it represents.

Although the city has not done anything with the facility since it purchased it under Mayor Harold West’s tenure, others have desired better things for the structure. Michael Jones, pastor of Revival Center, related that at the auction in which the school was being sold, he and his leadership team were present to bid on the building in 2001. However, when they determined that the city wanted the facility, they chose not to run up the bid so that the city could get the building for the lowest bid possible.

Other organizations have looked into transforming W.C. Whaley into a community center, a school, and even the city fire station and police offices. At one point, Journey Church looked into turning the facility into a multi-use, multi-organization center for the purpose of community meetings, organizational meetings, non-profit and ministry-oriented service organizations, and tutoring. It has been suggested that the facility be transformed into a new library. Grace Christian Academy considered the possibility of renovating part of the facility as their permanent location.

Renovation is not the only problem facing the facility. There is asbestos in the floor tiles. After representatives from Emtech Corporation paid an informal, courtesy visit to the location for Journey Church, it was estimated that it would cost $120,000 to do the legally-required abatement of the facility. Although new tiles could be laid down on top of the tiles in the cafeteria/auditorium wing, asbestos removal would be required in the two classroom wings since carpet had been glued to the tiles there. To completely tear down the facility and dispose of the asbestos properly would cost approximately $150,000, according to the estimate.

Although the facility was purchased under the leadership of former Mayor Harold West, current Mayor David Anderson attempted to fulfill the original intentions behind the purchase. In 2003, authorized by the city council, he hired an architectural firm from Little Rock to determine the feasibility of renovating the structure for use by the city.

“After meeting with the architect, we determined that it would be more financially feasible for us to remodel our current location, the old post office and city hall and also build a new fire station,” said Anderson.

Anderson related that the estimated cost for renovations to the interior and roof were $1.3 million. These costs did not include an asbestos abatement.

Although the city has reached a stalemate with the structure, W.C. Whaley continues to invite speculation and vandalism. Plywood put over the glass doors did little to stop intruders over the years, and according to Anderson, the police simply don’t have enough manpower to constantly patrol the facility.

With glass littering the hallways and classrooms, pink insulation draped forlornly from missing tiles in the ceiling, and obscenities painted along the building’s walls and chalkboards, this former school is no longer a place for children. It remains to be seen if there’s any life left in it at all.

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October is Domestic Violence Awareness month across the U.S. Southeast Arkansas has a regional center for domestic violence victims in Monticello called Options, Inc. In 1989 a task force was created in the 10th judicial district to examine the need for a shelter for battered or abused women in the region. Law enforcement officials, doctors, lawyers, businessmen and women, as well as professors from UAM surveyed the situation in Ashely, Bradley, Chicot, and Drew counties as it pertained to domestic violence.

Anecdotal evidence had been mounting for several years, but the survey found that 20% of all calls to law enforcement officials involved domestic violence in some way. The findings led to the conclusion the area was in “dire need” of such a shelter. At that time, funding was raised through private sources to begin a program and provide a safe house for victims. The house opened in September 1989 and has functioned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since then. See state statistics here.

Brenda Noble is the current director of Options, Inc. As a UAM student in 1991, she answered an ad in the paper for a part-time advocate position. “I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a shelter for domestic violence victims at the time,” she said. However, the job transformed into a life for her as she has worked for the past 15 years to serve victims and seek to create awareness and hope for those suffering from domestic violence.

“It’s not just about violence between a man and a woman, a husband and wife. Domestic violence is also prevalent among senior citizens who have grown children addicted to alcohol or drugs. Some of these abusers take their elderly parents’ medical or living money for their own purposes,” Noble said. There is also a distressing amount of sexual and physical abuse to children in our area. In Drew County alone, numbers show that 25% of the calls to police are related to domestic violence. 50% of the population will experience one episode of domestic violence in their life.

Options, Inc. receives funding from private and state funding, as well as some grants. However, all current funding is inadequate to operate the center as it should be. The Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence lobbied the state legislature for assistance in funding for the 26 domestic violence centers in Arkansas. In response, the legislature tacked on a fee to the Arkansas marriage license which is set aside for the shelters. Options also receives some funding from Violence Against Women office in Washington, DC, as well as funding that is produced by the Family Violence Act. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration in Little Rock oversees the federal funds brought into the state for these purposes.

There is a $100,000 limit, however, in funding for each shelter. “It’s very difficult to operate a shelter on that,” Noble said. “Especially in rural areas that are poverty-stricken. We don’t receive much community support. We find ourselves grasping to survive day by day. We struggle just to stay in existence.”

In 2000, Options opened a thrift store in the building on Main Street to help defray expenses. It gave them a presence in the community and an opportunity to create more awareness. However, it also gives them more overhead costs. The vast majority of their funding currently goes just to operating expenses and salaries. Being open 24 hours a day requires that an employee always be available at the shelter to answer phone calls and to be prepared at a moment’s notice to aid a victim.

People suffering from domestic violence can stop by the center or call 367-3488. “We’d like to expand our publicity and create more awareness, perhaps through a website,” Noble said.

Recently, because of financial crisis, Options sent letters out to all the churches in the five counties served by the center. “If every church were to give just $5 a month to our program, we would have no money problems,” Noble related. There was no response from the letters. Likewise, a letter to the editor requesting help and trying to create awareness was published in the Monticello Advance, but there was “no response.”

When asked how the region could best support and aid the program, Noble described two ways:

1. Financial. More support would relieve a very tight situation, and it would enable staff to focus on the primary reason the program exists: victims of domestic violence. “We want to be more concerned about victims and getting the word out than we are about the light bill and rent,” Noble said.
2. Education for citizens, city leadership and law enforcement officials. Describing several situations, Noble explained that not only do victims not know how to respond or where to seek help, but that often those in a position to refer them or send them to the proper sources do not. “We have to interpret the law correctly in order to provide victims with the protection and help they are afforded by the law. Interpreting the law according to your own philosophy leads to poor enforcement which leads to a violation of civil rights, and then victims are re-victimized. It’s an atrocity, to say the least,” commented Noble.

“It’s important to understand how cunning and manipulative some of the offenders and abusers are out there,” she said. “They know how to work the system and how to make it appear as if it’s the victim who is at fault or is lying.”

Kenneth Osburn, 46, was arrested September 29 and brought before an Arkansas City judge. The judge ordered Osburn of McGehee held without bond. Prosecutor Thomas Deen was scheduled to file formal capital murder and kidnapping Friday, October 6 against Osburn.

Casey Crowder, 17, ran out of gas early on August 27 on U.S. Highway 65 near Dumas and disappeared. Her body was found September 2 after a search by members of the Arkansas National Guard. Reports indicate that she was strangled to death.
Authorities have linked Osburn to the crime through a DNA sample and other evidence. He was employed by USA Trucking of Van Buren as an over-the-road driver, a job that has taken Osburn cross-country. News Fox16 reports that Osburn has been convicted of four other felonies in the past, though none were violent or sexual-offender related.

As the monthly meeting of the Monticello Economic Development Commission began Wednesday, (it meets the first Wednesday of each month in the UAM University Center Capitol Room) president Benny Ryburn informed those present about MonticelloLive and its contribution to community news and communication. In addition, Ryburn spotlighted Monticello Speedway as a business that is bringing Monticello quite a bit of attention.

“Each weekend, there are between 800-1200 spectators,” Ryburn said. With more than 100 race cars and their crew, the new race track consistently draws folks from other communities and out of state. Races take place every Saturday night from mid-March to mid-November. One night recently featured winners from five different states.

In items of business, it was reported the Monticello’s airport, Ellis Field, was recently classified as a Level 4 airport. This has significant implications for the community and region. Improvements at the field will help attract industries who require air transportation and support. According to the Arkansas State Airport System Plan, a Level 4 airport should strive to provide the following:

• A primary runway at least 5500 feet long by 100 feet wide
• Runway should be supported by a full parallel taxiway
• On-site weather reporting capabilities
• An LPV approach supported by medium intensity runway lighting and an approach lighting system
• Pavement strength of 30,000 pounds dual wheel
• Hangars for 80% of all based aircraft; apron area for all remaining based aircraft and 25% of daily transient aircraft
• 5000 square feet of public-use space with phones, restrooms, pilot and conference space
• Jet A and 100LL fuel; self service facilities
• Full service FBO and aircraft maintenance facilities
• Access to rental cars
• An Emergency Response Plan

According to the report, the first round economic impact to Monticello is approximately $824,000. The second round impact is $1,700,400. Total airport impact is estimated to be: 17 jobs, a total payroll of $443,100 and a total economic activity of $2,525,200.

In the director’s report, Director Derrill Pierce related that money has been raised for the needed feasibility study of renovating the old Ridgeway Hotel located on East Gaines. The hotel has been completely cleaned up inside, and the study will help determine “if the Ridgeway can be redeveloped to its highest and best future use from both a construction and economic perspective.” Pierce’s report stated, “The Ridgeway Hotel project is a portion of MEDC’s commitment to revitalization of the inner city, particularly the east side of the community. That revitalization is entirely consistent with the vision of Monticello being created by the Community Design Center in terms of higher density residential development and more pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods.”

In addition, the upcoming one-cent sales tax vote in 2007 was discussed as being key to continuing the development of Monticello’s infrastructure, sports complex, and industrial sites.

Pierce also reported that a strong industrial candidate that had been considering locating in Monticello has decided to locate in Rison instead. Treated Materials Company, which produces telephone and power poles, was offered a package of incentives as well as 30 acres of land for their site by Rison. While the MEDC had offered to match Rison’s offer of 30 acres of land within the industrial park, the “company declined the offer because C&L Electric Co-op is a valued client regularly purchasing electric power poles from the company.”

Treated Materials had expressed a desire to locate on 50 acres north of the Intermodal site on Highway 278. However, the MEDC did not have the financial capability to buy the site from Plum Creek since the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department had paid an appraised price of around $3000 per acre for the I-530 Right-of-Way. The Intermodal Authority paid the same for its 400 acres on the south side of 278. While MEDC offered other types of assistance, it was not able to persuade Treated Materials to locate within Drew County.

MEDC continues to pursue an interested company in the Pacific Northwest as a viable prospect for purchase of and location of their business in the SPEC Building in the industrial park. The wood products company would create approximately 30 new jobs should they decide to locate in Monticello.