Annie Lytle gets a new Roof

[Timkin]

Got an email from a friend today asking me what I thought of the recent Folio Weekly Article on Annie Lytle.    Guess I need to grab a Folio?  Someone??

[thelakelander]

Its a decent article.  It has a paragraph or two about your efforts to preserve the structure included in it.

[Dog Walker]

Some of the "facts" in the piece are off, but nothing major for an atmosphere story.

People, there are trolls in that building and no one will hear you scream.

[Jaxson]

I was glad to read that our local high school students are getting involved in this issue.  I hope that they can pick up the banner for this cause and can make a difference for good.  It would be a welcome change from a lot of the negative news that we have been reading about young people and how they are supposedly not as smart as their counterparts around the world.

[Dog Walker]

There are NO dumb kids going to Douglas Anderson or LaVilla Schools.  They are the most intelligent, creative and outgoing young people you will ever meet.  Just awesome!

[Timkin]

I was glad to read that our local high school students are getting involved in this issue.  I hope that they can pick up the banner for this cause and can make a difference for good.  It would be a welcome change from a lot of the negative news that we have been reading about young people and how they are supposedly not as smart as their counterparts around the world.

+1,000,000

[Timkin]

Is it okay for someone to post the article ?

[Timkin]

People, there are trolls in that building and no one will hear you scream.

Wonder how we missed these "trolls"  in all the times we were there on the cleanups and boarding up ?

   Never , at any time I was ever present there , did I feel/see anything unusual or hear screams.  Just new graffiti / damage at every visit.

[Ocklawaha]

Is it okay for someone to post the article ?

Yes, but you need citations of source. Also, I don't think Folio's website has electronic copies of their complete story's so someone needs to scan it in.

OCKLAWAHA

[Dog Walker]

My worst fears about the Folio article have been realized.  Going by this AM there were a couple of young women on the grounds inside the fence taking photographs and looking for a way inside the building.

Look kids, there are frequently homeless men living inside the building who would just love to get their hands on a couple of sweet young things.  It doesn't matter day or night; nobody would hear you screaming.

Tim and I have seen them inside, but we are too old and ugly for them to bother with.  Also armed.

[ChriswUfGator]

People, there are trolls in that building and no one will hear you scream.

Wonder how we missed these "trolls"  in all the times we were there on the cleanups and boarding up ?

   Never , at any time I was ever present there , did I feel/see anything unusual or hear screams.  Just new graffiti / damage at every visit.

The place is, especially certain times of year, a homeless shelter. I once saw the flames of a small heating fire driving by at night. It is not wise for unaccompanied females to go in there, the last thing we need for the building's sake is some teenage girl going in there by herself and getting raped by a bum, the way this community reacts to that kind of thing the building would be torn down by the end of the week. I want to see it saved too, and that's a lot of liability that could run counter to the goal.

[Timkin]

The situation as it is , is a ticking time-bomb.  I have lost count of the times I have posted on Facebook and in various forums, replies to emails, trying to reason to these young people to stay out of the School.  If an incident ,such as Chris suggests, or an injury or worse as a result of the building's declining condition, it is my fear that would be the final blow. 

I finally read the article today... it was decent... I am certainly glad to see some younger supporters of the building remaining, but I think Folio sets the wrong precedent by displaying a picture of kids wondering around in there. Kind of advertises a free for all.   But then I suppose it has been a " right of passage" for decades.. Unfortunately a good deal of the destruction is a direct result of persons who entered there without permission.  The difference is , I did not, without the direct written consent of the owner, and I never did any type of destructive measures.  Some people think it is cool to spray paint all over the building...not just inside of it.  It has gotten out of hand and sadly, it seems it will never end until , by the Grace of God , it is somehow spared and restored, OR  it would seem more likely,  demolished....Especially with the arrangement of ownership of the building/land and surrounding land.  I keep hoping and praying for it's new chapter.... but am tapped out of ideas on how to make that reality.

[Jaxson]

People, there are trolls in that building and no one will hear you scream.

Wonder how we missed these "trolls"  in all the times we were there on the cleanups and boarding up ?

   Never , at any time I was ever present there , did I feel/see anything unusual or hear screams.  Just new graffiti / damage at every visit.

The place is, especially certain times of year, a homeless shelter. I once saw the flames of a small heating fire driving by at night. It is not wise for unaccompanied females to go in there, the last thing we need for the building's sake is some teenage girl going in there by herself and getting raped by a bum, the way this community reacts to that kind of thing the building would be torn down by the end of the week. I want to see it saved too, and that's a lot of liability that could run counter to the goal.

In the years that Public School #4 has been a curiosity for local youth, it is miracle that we have not read about a bum attacking, robbing or raping one of the curiosity seekers.  I was too chicken to venture inside (Religious parents who would have killed me and buried me in the backyard), but I had friends who had no qualms about taking a look for themselves.  Two classmates of mine were arrested for trespassing back in the day when I-95 went under the Park Street overpass. 

At any rate, I want to play devil's advocate for a moment.  If the building becomes a mecca for even more young people, the kids would surely outnumber the bums.  Violent crimes tend to be of opportunity.  A bum is not likely going to attack a kid who is one of a crowd of folks wandering the building.  When I went to New York City as a college student, my folks feared that I would be killed in the mean streets of Union Square.  I never felt safer because there were always crowds of people and I never felt vulnerable.

Back to reality, though, they should not be risking their personal safety and should listen to the voice of reason.  Besides, we should always emphasize that those folks who go inside the school should do so through the proper channels for liability reasons and for piece of mind.

I do agree with Chriswufgator that it only takes one incident for the public to deem the building a hazard and menace and to break out the torches to raze this beautiful building...

[Timkin]

And , Jaxson I fear there is a particular number of people out there ...won't bother to name names , who is chomping at the bit, so to speak for this building to be destroyed.  I would not go as far as to say they would want to see someone die.. but if it took that for the building to be demolished, then so be it.

IMO  there is too much negative "power" in Place..... this is why this building and so many like it are endangered and have never had a development that got past the "planning" stages......and as well why so many magnificent structures through out this city, particularly in Downtown, LaVilla, and Brooklyn are gone.  Horrible MINDLESS Razing.....and for as far as the eye can see ,,,, Blight and vacant land.

I really do not wish to see PS #4  follow suit of so many other Historic Landmarks.