Meghan Savercool and Kyle Cooper live across the street from John G. Carlisle Elementary School and have been hearing about the new developments planned for the block. So, they attended Covington’s Pike Street Development open house on Monday — even though they had to bring their five-week old son along.
“We're just right around the corner from Braxton and Hotel Covington, but still, people don't really just cross over the street and come right here,” Savercool said. “So I think it could be good just to spread the business around.”
They were not alone. Dozens of residents attended the open house. Many voiced support for reviving the block while pointing out areas where the proposed development falls short or may cause more problems.
This was the point of the night, said Covington Economic Development Director Tom West.
He said the current development aims to do five things: address parking and housing needs, rehome the Covington Farmer’s market, bring visibility to the school and drive foot traffic into this part of the city.
“We're talking about four units of housing for teachers, a small amount of retail space, a relatively small market shed, and a relatively small amount of parking,” West said. “But it's an opportunity to bring all of those uses together in one block.”
Green space
While many are looking forward to the new farmer’s market home, they are equally worried about the loss of the green space in front of the school. Currently, the majority of the lot is a fenced-off, grassy field. The current renderings of the plan show the market pavilion will be built on a parking lot — and the lot will be used year round to park cars on non-market days.
“It looks like a lot more asphalt, and I saw several comments already about more green space or keeping it to have a fair amount of green space, which I think is a valid point,” said Covington resident JoEllen Hothem. “So I wrote that down too.”
While green space is important to many, Cooper said not many use the current space.
“The only time I've seen it really utilized is the summer camp they've got going on the past couple weeks — but other than that I haven't seen it utilized a ton,” he said.
Still, residents asked for a way to keep some of the green space in the development now that the area will be revitalized and used more often.
“We have got to think of ways to make this be used year round,” Hothem said. “It needs to have many multiple uses.”
Housing for teachers
On the west side of the block sits an abandoned bank building officials are turning into four affordable housing units for early-career teachers.
“Common practice when you subsidize something for affordable housing is like a five to 10 year minimum timeline — we're certainly committed to that,” said Center for Great Neighborhoods executive director, Shannon Ratterman.
Funding to off-set the cost of the apartments comes from a private donor, according to Mayor Ron Washington. But he said there’s no concrete timeline for how long the units will remain affordable.
“If it's up to me, it'll last forever because we want them to experience Covington, totally invest their time in our city and to invest their time in our children,” Washington said.
Hothem works at the school as an after-school program educator, and believes the four housing units would help.
“If I was a young teacher wanting to teach here, I'd probably want to live in those apartments right across the street,” Hothem said about the existing housing nearby. “I can guess they're probably not super affordable on a teacher's salary.”
Covington Independent Public Schools is selling the land to the city. The money the school receives from the purchase is immediately going toward updating the playground on the west corner of the school, according to Covington School Board Chair, Tom Haggard.
“As you walk past it, I'm sure you can see it needs some love,” he said. “Our kids deserve a really great play space out there, so they and the community can have some place to have some recreation.”
While plans to install a permanent market space, more parking spots and affordable units remain in motion — the city promised residents they’ll consider their input.
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