Renovations in the works for long-vacant Pueblo elementary schools

Rocky Mountain Service, Employment & Redevelopment/Jobs for Progress — a community-based organization that provides early childhood, workforce and community development services throughout Colorado — wants to renovate two former elementary schools, CEO Christopher Hall told city council members during an Aug. 1 work session.

The two buildings located at 2717 West St. and 2300 E. 10th St. formerly housed Somerlid and Spann elementary schools, which have been closed since 2012.

RMSER purchased both schools in 2018 for $100,000 each. The organization then completed a master plan in 2019 to identify how to renovate and make use of both facilities.

Hall said Spann Elementary has been a hot spot for vandalism and is “an eyesore to the community.”

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“When we say we have to do something with (Spann Elementary), we have to do something to give back life to the east side of Pueblo,” Hall said.

RMSER has four different renovation proposals for Spann Elementary; each has different layouts but include implementing an early childhood education garden and community gardens, playgrounds and basketball courts, and building wings for early childhood education and community partnerships.

The community partnership section of the building could also house vocational programming, Hall said.

A complete renovation of the facility — the other three proposals would've taken on 50% renovations — would tear down the building and build a new one in its place, containing the same elements but in a different layout.

The cost for renovations won’t be nearly as much for Somerlid, Hall said, but would also have a multi-use purpose for a community and early childhood education garden, playgrounds and basketball courts.

Both facilities would join the Rocky Mountain SER Empowerment Center in Pueblo within RMSER’s portfolio. The empowerment center is one of RMSER's four community locations across the state.

Hall did not give a timeline on when renovations would start but said the projects would be completed in phases.

The renovation proposals come after RMSER’s top management team completed a strategic plan between 2018 and 2019 that led to the creation of the Empowerment CampUs, a collaborative community initiative.

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“COVID has really set us aside to say, ‘Hey, take a look at yourself, the man in the mirror, per se,'” Hall said. “How can we build from what happened in 2020 during COVID?”

Hall said at the city council work session that community collaboration with other organizations is one of RMSER’s top priorities after “missing out” on partnerships over the past 20 years.

“We have to figure out something right now today,” Hall said. “The future is now for RMSER. We need to come up with different ways on how we as an organization can be more in-depth into the community we serve.”

RMSER Pueblo has made progress with its community alliances in recent years by partnering with the Pueblo Food Project, WeeCycle, and the Eastside Action Support Team, among others.

Pueblo Food Project entrepreneur courses are available at the Empowerment Center and Eastside Action has supplied food to the center’s pantry.

In its time in Pueblo RMSER Pueblo has made a measurable impact on the community; it has given out more than a million pounds of food in the past year and since October 2021, has served more than 27,000 people with its food pantry; its early childhood literacy and language development program has helped more than 1,000 children; it has supplied or assisted more than 96 million people in Pueblo over the last 36 years and served 18.6 million meals since its start 42 years ago.

“Our numbers are just outrageous,” Brandi Adakai, community director for the Rocky Mountain Empowerment Center in Pueblo, told The Chieftain.

The center also houses an art and theater school and English as a Second Language classes. It wants to add more businesses within its building, Adakai said.

RMSER Pueblo also wants to offer more classes and training sessions in collaboration with Pueblo Food Project, she added.

“The partnerships are just unbelievable,” Adakai said. “We couldn’t do it alone. It’s nice when everyone comes together for the good of the community. That’s what we really want — not just individuals but getting businesses and other organizations to work together. We all have the same mission — to fulfill Pueblo’s needs.”

Chieftain reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @josuepwrites.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Renovations in works vacant Pueblo elementary schools Somerlid. Spann