The house at 2528 High School Drive was torn down this week, as reported by The Brentwood Historical Society. The house was built in 1941.
Some large trees are left standing, so far. When houses at 8830 Madge Avenue and 9119 Lawn Avenue were demolished to make way for infill houses large trees were removed to move the driveway from one side of the house to the other.
The house on High School already has the drive on the same side as a large tree, but it also has a dropp-off to the property to the south, something that builders avoided with the new houses on Madge and Lawn.
If the drive is moved to the north side of the lot the pine trees will be in the way.
The house demolition — and plan to build a new one — was approved at the February 18 architectural review board meeting. Demolition of homes to build infill houses at 2613 Louis and 2509 Cecilia are on the June 16 agenda.
Update: Brentwood resident Barry Williams reports that all of the trees at 2528 High School have been destroyed. This was the longtime residence of Herbert Strassner, who served on the Brentwood Board of Aldermen for many years. Strassner Drive, which links Brentwood Boulevard and Hanley Road, was named in his honor many years ago.
On the one hand the those attending private schools still support the district with taxes without receiving the benefits for their kids.
One the other hand I think over the long run there will be less support for the district.
I also think it leads to the Balkanization of neighborhoods.
As a tree expert, the tree on the right is currently in decline and, with the bulldozer compacting the soil, afraid all the trees on the property will eventually die.
In this case, this family chose to tear down a “starter home” and build a larger home for their growing family to move into and support the community and a school district.
I, having grown up in Brentwood, still think of it as home. I have noticed that the people who tear and rebuild tend to send their children to private schools for some reason. Why move to an area with a great district and not take advantage of it? Private school students could live anywhere. Why Brentwood?
There are many reasons people choose private schools even when they live in great school districts. For some, it’s so their children can have faith based educations – and note Mary Magdalene is also in Brentwood. I’m Lutheran, so we close local Lutheran schools. Some children perform better in smaller settings – also true of my kids. Some kids have special needs and parents get tired of fighting with special school district for services and choose private education where they have much more control over services (assuming they have resources to buy those services privately). I moved to Brentwood 14 years ago fully expecting to utilize the public schools. Then, I gave birth to one child who is deaf and one child who has autism. Special school district was miserable to deal with – and Brentwood defers to SSD on all special ed matters. Some parents think certain private schools are more prestigious. That wasn’t a factor for me, but it is for many. There are many good reasons to choose Brentwood besides the school district – central location, safe and attractive neighborhood, nearby parks, and family atmosphere are just a few. I love living in Brentwood.
such a pleasant voice of reason
Really sick of seeing all our neighborhood homes wiped out so some jerks who don’t live here can making a buck. 🙁
Me, too. But get criticized when I say it. I will never get my money out of my house because it is only 1245 sq ft. Perfect size for starter home or young family.
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