A push to save the lawn

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot ..."

-- Joni Mitchell

When will the folks who run Wake schools ever learn?

You can move kids around the county like pieces on a chessboard, you can fail No Child Left Behind and fight all you want with the county commissioners. But for goodness' sake, don't ever mess with Broughton High School's glorious green front lawn.

That's a sure way to stir up the fearsome Broughton High alums.

This is the tiered lawn where the school's vaunted marching band once practiced in the blazing heat. Several years ago, part of the green was turned into parking spaces, while the rest was filled with unsightly temporary classrooms -- trailers.

That was allowed under a special agreement with the city because the school was undergoing renovations.

Broughton alums, more faithful than any college's, didn't like it, but they gritted their teeth. It was for Broughton's greater good.

Finally, the trailers were removed -- to the back of the Broughton campus. But they landed on top of parking lots previously filled with students' BMWs and SUVs.

So now school officials are proposing that Broughton's entire front lawn be paved and, yes, turned into a parking lot.

Mike Burriss, assistant superintendent of facilities, said the new lot will create a new traffic flow and relieve daily jam-ups outside the school.

He also said every effort will be made to camouflage the parking -- to create a streetscape along Peace Street that is pleasing to the eye and to the historic commission as well.

Still, the proposal doesn't sit well with some of Broughton's alumni. And some of Broughton's alumni are muckety-mucks.

For instance: J. Harold Tharrington, founding partner, now retired, of the law firm Tharrington Smith.

Tharrington attended Broughton in the '50s; his three kids graduated there. And his ex-wife Ann lives across the street from the school.

In a letter to the Planning Commission a few weeks ago, Tharrington noted Broughton's architectural history; it was the first building designed by William Henry Deitrick, one of Raleigh's most renowned architects.

Tharrington praised the school's postcard setting and that tiered green lawn. All of it, he wrote, "destroyed if the front yard is turned into a parking lot and the vista destroyed."

His letter seemed to resonate with the Planning Commission. Instead of voting on the parking lot proposal earlier this month, the commission asked the school to consider another location. Perhaps in a lot across St. Mary's Street.

But Burris said there are concerns about students' safety while walking across St. Mary's.

Ann Tharrington had a revolutionary suggestion: Slash the number of parking spots so more kids carpool or take the bus.

But the city requires a certain number of parking spaces. And parking at Broughton is already at such a premium that some kids pay hundreds of dollars to park in private lots near the school.

So, for now, Burris said, Wake is sticking with its proposal to pave Broughton's front yard and develop a stunning streetscape facade.

But as Yogi Berra said, it ain't over till it's over. The Tharringtons plan to attend the next Planning Commission meeting Sept. 9.

They hope other Broughton alums will as well.