(story and photos by Norman Kincaide)
Liberty School stood for sixty years and might have stood for sixty more. Within, classrooms echoed the sound of silence, the hall filled with school equipment, desks and obsolete computer monitors. All awaiting the auctioneer’s call. The school was built in 1950 to accommodate the post-World War Two baby boom accommodating grades 1-6. A school commons and activity room were added in 1970, remodeled in 1984.
Nancy Aschermann, Rocky Ford School Superintendent from 1999 to 2011, said that Liberty School was closed because of declining enrollment, not because of any structural, maintenance or asbestos issues. By the time of closing, enrollment had declined to about 250 elementary school students, comprising grades 3-5. Grades Kindergarten through 2 were housed in Washington School.
Child Development Services (Head Start) located at Grand Valley School on Highway 10 south of Rocky Ford, indicated an interest in the building. Rocky Ford High School wrestling used Liberty School as a practice facility. Head Start would have used the south end, while the wrestling team would have retained the north end. At the time of the offer, two Rocky Ford School Board members voted in favor of the Child Development Services offer, while two opposed, with one abstention. Without a majority in favor, the proposal failed.
According to Kermit Snyder, Superintendent, Rocky Ford R-2 School District, other proposals included moving the School District offices to Liberty School; also rejected. The school district reached out to Otero Junior College for a satellite campus as well as to nursing homes and health care facilities. These entreaties failed to generate any interest. The cost of renovating the building's systems (roof, plumbing, heating/air, electric, etc.) appeared to be cost prohibitive.
The City of Rocky Ford also showed no interest. Fire Chief Ray Gonzales envisioned a firefighter training facility that would serve all of southeastern Colorado. Nothing ever came of his suggestion for repurposing Liberty School. The building was still fully functional in 2014.
Ultimately, the school district decided to auction the property, which was held December 7, 2012. The only bids came from individuals over the telephone. Bidding stalled at $28,500.00, awarded to Gold Nugget Properties, LLC, which closed on the sale, January 4, 2013. Liberty School was then sold to David William Loy, DBA Love Ministries for $77,100.00, closed, August 5, 2013. The Otero County Assessor shows David William Loy as the current owner with no current address, while being delinquent on property taxes since 2021. The delinquent taxes were purchased by J.C. Homm, Bennett, CO, in 2021, who must pay them for three years and then apply for a deed. Attempts to contact either party have been fruitless.
How long it took the building to descend into darkness cannot be determined exactly. Chief Gonzales said that most of the damage to Liberty School occurred in the last ten years.
On June 6, 2019 Rocky Ford police officers Moore and Lopez responded to a call about kids breaking windows at Liberty School. They obtained a description of the individuals and examined the building, but could not determine which windows had recently been broken because of previous extensive vandalism.
Moore and Lopez returned to the school to see smoke coming from near the front door. Rocky Ford Fire Department (RFFD) was notified and extinguished a fire of papers and leaves, damaging a door in the foyer. A witness observed a female party running from the location shortly before RFDP noticed the smoke. A suspect was charged with criminal mischief, but was never brought trial. Degradation of the property continued up to November 25, 2024, when a major fire destroyed the center section of Liberty School.
Part of the issue involves property owners who don’t nurture, maintain, repair, or clean up their properties. Abandoned, neglected, derelict, and vacant properties invite intrusion by destructive, malicious individuals. Eventually, residents grow weary of calling law enforcement to Liberty School for nefarious activity.
Rocky Ford City Council addressed the problem of abandoned properties in 2022, passing Ordinance 968, wherein the council sought to clarify its intent to require land and building owners to register all vacant property and structures within the City of Rocky Ford. Vacant building fees are assessed to defray the cost of registering and monitoring vacant structures in the city.
Annually increased fee amounts will be assessed for costs incurred by the City for demolition and hazard abatement of or repairs to vacant buildings. The first-year fee for a vacant building is $250, $500 for the second, $750 for the third, $1000 for the fourth and every year the building remains vacant. Exempt buildings include those under active construction, renovation or repair, those listed with a realtor or available for the rental market. The issue of trespass on vacant property is that a property must be posted with No Trespassing signs to be enforceable for trespass.
Mayor Gurulè said that Rocky Ford appears to be unique with the number of fires within the town limits compared to other small towns in Otero County, an opinion also shared by Fire Chief Ray Gonzales. Is this a function of the number and kind of vacant properties in Rocky Ford? There are currently eighty-nine vacant buildings in Rocky Ford.
The El Capitan (the portico of which was in danger of collapse, was demolished) and the McKenzie building (from which masonry had fallen) are currently in court on condemnation proceedings. The means whereby the City can take action reference to building safety falls under Municipal Code Chapter 7, Article 1, Section 7-1-110(b): “Whenever a public nuisance exits which constitutes an emergency, imminent danger or serious injury to persons or property, the Code Enforcement Officer may order without notice or judicial action that the public nuisance be summarily abated by removal.”
Fire Chief Ray Gonzales referenced this Code concerning the El Capitan and the McKenzie building on July 23 and July 29, 2024, respectively, for the city to take action. The city is working with Stantec through the Governor’s office to obtain grants to clean up debris from recent fires, mostly notably the Brewer Construction fire of April 2024.
Recent fires have accented the issue of vacant buildings. A fire at 504 N. Main St., Rocky Ford, December 30, 2021, required response by RFFD, Fowler (FFD), Manzanola (MFD), and La Junta (LJFD) Fire Departments, along with, Otero County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) Black Hills Energy (BHE) and Rocky Ford Public Works (RFPW). Fire Chief Gonzales responded to the scene to find a vacant single story wood frame residential building fully engulfed in flames. Fire spread to adjacent Stier storage units, damaging the contents of several, estimated at $60,000. The residential building was a total loss, which still stands. Cause of the fire was from an unattended burn barrel, hot embers from which carried by high winds settled on rubbish near the building.
On April 19, 2024, RFFD arrived at the Brewer Construction Company, 201 N. 10th, Rocky Ford at 5:31 P.M. A short grass fire originating at the north east corner of the property had quickly spread to contents and structures within the company yard. Numerous vehicles, construction materials and dry weeds contributed to the fire also whipped by strong wind from the east. Responding entities: RFFD, FFD, LJFD, MFD, RFPD, OCSO, BHE, RFPW and Colorado Department of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC). The resulting cost was $500 per hour per fire department with eight hours per agency. The total incident time was 25 hours and 31 minutes and was cleared at 7 P.M. April 20, 2024. At this writing the cause is of unknown origin and is still under investigation. Damage assessed at $250,000.
On September 8, 2024, RFFD was called to the scene of a structure fire south of Asian Tornado in the old popcorn factory, east of Brewer Construction. The structure was fully engulfed when RFFD arrived at 6 P.M. Entities responding were: LJFD, MFD, BHE, OCSO, DFPC and RFPW. A power pole caught fire and BHE disconnected power to the lines. Power was knocked out in the area south of the fire. Total incident time was fourteen hours, twenty-six minutes. This fire is still under investigation.
The November 24-25, the Liberty School fire was difficult as thermal imaging did not penetrate ceiling foam insulation layers to reveal heat and embers. The first call came late in the evening of November 24, the flare up was reported at 5 A.M. the 25th resulting in the center section of the school to be fully involved in flames. Responding were: RFFD, FFD, LJFD and MFD, RFPD, OCSO, BHE, RFPW and DFPC. The fire originated in an east classroom between the gym and the music room. Chief Gonzales didn’t know a gas line to the school was still active, though not active within the structure. BHE closed that line at the street. Without the assistance of heavy equipment, a frontend loader/backhoe from J.M. Tucker Excavation and Wade Kurtz working a large excavator, controlling and knocking down this fire would have been much more difficult. This stubborn fire resulted in the decision to let the center section burn, while preventing it spreading to the music room on the north and the gym and classrooms on the south.
On Wednesday, December 11, 2024, 2 P.M., Chief Ray Gonzales conducted me on a complete walk-through of Liberty School. What I saw was truly disgusting and discouraging. Liberty School is much worse inside than the defaced exterior indicates. Not one square inch of the school is not contaminated by debris, trash, urine, remnants of warming fires, physical destruction in every room and graffiti on all the walls. I threw away the old pair of boots I wore for the walk through. Liberty School cannot be redeemed and needs to be demolished. Fleeting thoughts of a repurposed property I had the day of the auction are now replaced by a visual from my front door of a heap of rubble that was Liberty School a block and a half away.
Sources
Interview with Nancy and Ron Aschermann, December 3, 2024
Interview with Mayor Duane Gurule, December 10, 2024
Email Kermit Snyder, December 9, 2024
Email Ken Hood, Otero County Assessor, December 9, 2024
Property Profile, Liberty School, Otero County Assessor’s Office
Email Sharon Jones, Otero County Treasurer, December 10, 2024
Rocky Ford Police Department Incident Report: 190338
Email Fire Chief Ray Gonzales, December 10, 2024, plus incident reports on the above listed fires.
Hozzászólások