David Amott (“Granite bond plan would sacrifice a landmark,” The Tribune, Oct. 21), states that Skyline High School should not be demolished and rebuilt. I partially agree with him: It should be demolished, but not rebuilt.
Skyline was built to meet the needs of an expanding Baby Boom population. That “boom” has long passed and the student population feeding to Skyline is, if not declining, remaining fairly steady. There is room at Olympus, Cottonwood and other Granite District high schools to absorb the Skyline population. If there is growth taking place, it is in the west side of Granite District.
Don Adams, assistant supervisor of support services for Granite District, has stated the expected cost to rebuild a high school is approximately $80 million. Remove that from the proposed bond, add in $15 to $20 million from the sale of the land where Skyline sits, and the bond could be reduced from $238 million to around $140 million.
For this reason alone, I am voting against the proposed bond and urge you to deny a blank check to Granite School District to carry out such profligacy.
James D. Smith, South Salt Lake