Evening star., 1934-05-13
SCHOOL SALE BILL
ST|RS UP DEBATE
Many Groups Oppose Los
ing Facilities of TenIey
to Future Use.

wine street to st. AIMS Catholic
Church for parochial school purposes,
has attracted wide public interest.
A bill authorizing the sale OF the
school building. which the District
school authorities abandoned five
years ago, recently was favorably re-
ported by the House District Com
= mittee.
The report was made despite the op-
position of the Board Of Education and
the District Commissioners who have
expressed the view that increased
school population in that section OF
the city indicates the possible neces-
sity" of the District public school sys-
tenn making further use of the Struc-
ture. Originally owned by st. AIMS
parish, the property on which the
Tenley School was constructed was
sold to the District for public school
purposes. At the time OF the original
sale, it was suggested that VIXEN the
District had no further use for the
property for school purposes, it be
resold to the church.
Vacated in 1929.
In 1929. the Tenley School was
deemed inadequate to accommodate
the classes housed in it. The build
ing was vacated that year and its
classes moved to the modern ard then
new adjacent Janney (public ele-
mentary) School. The abandoned
Tenley School was in bad repair.
Meanwhile, the frame structure
which housed the St. AIMS Parochial
School nearby was found Inadequate
for that purpose and the parish leased
the Tenley building from the District.
Approximately $1,000 was spent by
st. AIMS Church in repairing the
Tenley Building for its use, accord
ing to a Federation of Citizens As
sociations' report on the matter.
Opponents OF the proposed resale
include the Commissioners, the School
Board, the Federation of Citizens As
sociation, the American University
Park Citizens Association, the Ten
lay-Janney Parent-Teacher Assocla-
ton, the Friendship Citizens Associa-
ton.
The Board of Trustees of the Public
Library has written to the Commits
sioners asking that the District re-
tain the property as branch library
building.
Present Branch Too Small.
The library trustees. in their letter,
said:
Several years ago. the Commits
sioners turned over to the library
trustees the abandoned No. IA police
precinct station building at Wisconsin
avenue and River road. This building
has always been too small and there
is too little District-oWned land to
enlarge it sufficiently to meet the ex-
pected needs of that rapidly growing
suburb.
THE library trustees note that
bill (H. r. 918D has been introduced
and just favorably reported to au-
thorize the Commissioners of the Dis
trict of Columbia to sell the old Ten
ley School to the duly authorized rep
resentative of st. AIMS Church in the
District of Columbia The library
trustees hope that this property near
ly opposite our present inadequate
branch library building will not be
sold but will be held (unleSS needed
by the Board of Education) for use as
a branch library to replace the pres
ent branch building, or to serve as an
adequate and well located site for
new building.
ut has not been possible to make
any recent examination of this school
building, but an examination of the
plans seems to indicate that the build
ing could be remodeled at moderate
expense. 1t is noted that the Friend
ship Citizens Association opposes the
sale of the school property on the
ground that playground space at the
adjoining Janney School is inadequate
Should the library occupy the build
ing, most of its present grounds could
be made available as an addition to
Janney School playground"
New Lease Acceptable.
In its recommendation to the Com
mlssloners that the Tenley property
be not sold at this time, the Board of
Education pointed out that the prop
erty now was under lease to St. AIMS
to house its parochial school. The
board expressed complete willingness
for second two-year lease of the
property to the church, pointing out
that by that time public school con-
gestion might be so great as to require
the accommodation again of public
school classes in the structure
The Committee on Education of the
Federation of Citizens Associations
opposed the sale when it recently up
held the objections of the American
University Park Citizens Association.
The federation itself adopted the re-
port of its committee. That action
expressed the view that sale of this
valuable property, fronting on Wis
constr avenue. would be serious mis-
take so long as there appears to be
likelihood that it may be used for
school or playground purposes"