Effort to block Boulevard School sale

A bipartisan bid to block the proposed sale of the former Memorial Boulevard School is underway. Last weekend, two Republican city councilors met with at least a handful of community members who are opposed to the sale in order to plan strategy.

Among the participants, according to several sources, were former Democratic city Councilors Craig Minor and Ellen Zoppo and Dawn Leger, a planning expert. The incumbent council members were Republicans Henri Martin and David Mills. The group discussed ways they might derail the Real Estate Committee's apparent willingness to sell the historic school to a Rhode Island developer who wants to use it for apartments, a fitness club and a community theater. If the committee endorses the sale, as expected, it would fall to the City Council to make a final decision. But it appears that it would take a super majority to pass the motion because the Planning Commission called on the city to keep the site, or at least that's one reading of its decision. Without its support, the council needs a two-thirds vote to proceed, or five favorable votes if everyone is present. It isn't clear if there are five votes to sell. Anyway, here's the planning recommendation (click on it to increase size):

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