Board approves Western Academy design

Jun. 2—The Western Academy at The Neblett cleared the final hurdle Wednesday in its plan to build a new campus at 721 W. Fifth St., across Elm Street from the H. L. Neblett Center.

Olga McKissic, the academy's director, said the Neblett Center is filled to capacity, and the academy needs a comfortable place for the boys in grades 3 through 8 who attend the classes.

So, it's working with Jagoe Homes to build a 1,328-square-foot facility.

But the property is near the western edge of the Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission's downtown overlay district, which has restrictions on the type of buildings that can be constructed.

So, the academy went before the Owensboro Historic Preservation Board last month to try and work out the differences between its plans and the overlay district's guidelines.

The board suggested that they make some changes and then come back for approval.

Most of the differences had been worked out by this week.

But two items — the slope of the roof and the percentage of windows on the street side of the proposed building — were still slightly off from the guidelines.

So, the project went back before the board Wednesday.

Ed Allen, board chairman, said, "The percentage of windows is pretty close, and the roof line doesn't appear to be a critical issue."

After the board voted to approve the project, he said, "You're free to move forward."

Bill Jagoe, who owns Jagoe Homes with his brother, Scott, said that was the final hurdle for the project.

Construction, he said, will start as soon as possible.

In the past month, Mayor Tom Watson and others have questioned some aspects of the guidelines.

He said he would like to put together a group to look at the guidelines, which were adopted in 2009, to see if changes need to be made.

Allen said Wednesday, after the board gave its approval to the project, "I think this is the way the system is supposed to work. We try to work with the developers to make projects fit a little better. I congratulate you, and I appreciate the improvements made."

McKissic said the Academy was created in October 2019 to counter gun violence in the community.

"We wanted to do something to stop the blood flow, something that wasn't a band-aid," she said.

The academy is for Black boys and seeks to instill high self-esteem and help improve educational experiences.

They meet on Saturdays and have tutoring sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The proposed building would be "another positive footprint" in the community, McKissic said.

Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301, klawrence@messenger-inquirer.com.