A battle between history and progress finally has a solution in one Omaha neighborhood with OPS announcing a location for a new elementary school.
For some it's 15 years in the making to get word that an elementary school will be back in the Gifford Park neighborhood.
The Omaha Public School board will allow the school district to use about $3 million to purchase land from Creighton University for a new elementary school. The approval took place Monday night... The school would be built on the southeast corner of 32nd & Burt St.
Earlier proposals indicated OPS wanted to demolish the old Yates school building to construct the new elementary. Currently, Yates is used as a community center and a learning center for refugees.
"We wanted to keep the Yates center and have a new school so we are very happy and excited to know that OPS approved the purchase of the lot at Creighton University," said Marie Helene Andre, President of the Gifford Park Neighborhood Association.
OPS says the trends show they need a new elementary school in the Gifford Park neighborhood to serve the growing number of students, and the success at Yates showed that it shouldn’t be torn down. The board also agreed to purchase two residential properties at 32nd & Webster St.
The school is intended to open in the fall of 2019.
The Gifford Park Neighborhood Association hopes they'll have input in the elementary school's design and certain classes that will be offered.
