Dear Highland Park Neighbors, This is a reminder that there are *several important meetings* coming up regarding the future of the Schenley building. The first is the PPS public hearing is on Monday, July 23 (previously posted incorrectly as July 22), at 6PM at the Board of Ed. Building on Bellefied Street (call 412-622-3868 by Monday before 12 noon to register to speak). Or just come to lend support if speaking is not for you! (Written testimony can be submitted to the Board of Education, or if you cannot be there, we can find someone to read your testimony for you.) Bill Peduto is sponsoring the second on July 25 at 7PM at the United Cerebral Palsy building, 4638 Center Avenue, 15213. Representatives from the immediate neighborhood around the Schenley building have been attending the Peduto sponsored meetings and many are advocating for converting the building to housing. We need to make our voices heard. Schenley, an architecturally magnificent building located on prime Oakland real estate, was closed to the PPS stakeholders under conditions that are no loner valid. It was recently made public that the plaster in the building negligible amounts of asbestos, not even enough to warrant monitoring by federal AHERA standards). Recently, a contractor stated that the building could be converted to apartments for $35M, a fraction of what the PPS administration stated in 2006 said it would cost to update heating and electrical systems and make the building available to students. And while the East End is suffering from the lack of gym facilities for its students and the Milliones building that houses University Prep requires a $20M gym addition, the Schenley sports facilities have no structural problems and lay gathering dust. In addition, the Peabody building has not had any structural or systems updates in 30-35 years, making it likely that this building will require millions of dollars of work in the foreseeable future. *Please come and advocate for an invaluable building that is part of our city’s history and heritage.* * * Best, Kathy Fine -- Kathy