D.C. Deal Could Get Schools, Libraries

City officials say they're aware of how complicated public-private projects can be. They caution that what would work for some sites would make no sense for others.

Planning Director Ellen McCarthy said the District would not allow apartments atop a busy police or fire station, for example, because wailing sirens would be too disruptive. And although a draft report on building libraries endorses the public-private concept, library board president John W. Hill emphasized that the approach would work only at certain locations.

"You have to make sure that there's enough room for you to expand your services, if you need to. You want to make sure that you're not boxed in," Hill said. "One of the recommendations is that the library be prominent . . . that you not have a library on the 10th floor and nobody knows that it is there."

School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey also struck a note of caution. "We want good public-private partnerships," Janey said, not "one-dimensional or self-serving [partnerships] that come at the expense of the schools' needs."

Cropp's bill, which she said will be discussed at public hearings this year, would require city planners to seek input from citizen groups before drawing up lists of properties and offering them to the private sector. That type of public involvement would be crucial, school board member William Lockridge said, to appease wary neighbors.

"Who are we building these apartments for? Are they going to be two bedrooms, or three bedrooms, for families? Or are they going to be just for single people?" asked Lockridge, who with Peck led the effort last year to win support on the school board for such partnerships. "The community will buy into the project as long as they can see something that benefits the existing community."

Staff writer V. Dion Haynes contributed to this report.

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