The latest plans and ideas for the Dana Lyon School to become a center for the ARTS and education has me feeling very optimistic. What better use for a school building than for education? It has only been a few years since students were there learning, and since the school district continually invested in required maintenance and updates for the building, I’m hoping it won’t take long to open the doors and bring this revival of our village center to fruition.
When society spirals downward, as most of us are probably willing to acknowledge that ours has done, artistic and intellectual activity can bring us back up, just as the Renaissance did in Europe. What a vision! Higher education and opportunity to learn the ARTS and skills that use our hands and hearts instead of push-buttons and electronics, right in the center of Bath, New York. I wonder what kind of unique shops would spring up on Liberty Street with artists and students collaborating in the Dana Lyon School and Waterman Center for the Arts Complex? How many tourists or visitors would come to our area to be a part of this, or stop in as they are passing by to learn more about it? Perhaps Bed and Breakfast lodging would spring up in some of the beautiful older homes near this corner?
We all know that public schools can’t afford to expand their creative arts offerings, but a Renaissance Center at the Dana Lyon School could become an incubator for local talent, to go on to professional careers in the ARTS.
I hope that any issues regarding the buildings will be resolved soon, so that Bath can forge ahead and have new and valuable experiences, for ourselves our children and for tourists here in our historic village.
Jeffrey S. Rinick
Bath
