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STATE OF INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE May 1, 2008 Dr. Robert L. Zimmerman Superintendent South Bend Community School Corporation 215 S St. Joseph St South Bend, IN 46601 Dear Dr. Zimmerman, INDIANA GOVERNMENT CENTER NORTH 100 NORTH SENATE AVENUE N1058(B) INDiANAPOLIs, IN 46204 PHONE (317) 232-3777 FAx (317) 232-8774 Thank you for your hospitality during my visit last week to the South Bend Community School Corporation. I appreciate the time that you and your staff spent describing the school corporation's needs. 'Our meeting focused primarily on the proposed demolition of Marquette and the building of a new facility to house Marquette's current population and a new Montessori pre -kindergarten program. I share your goal of ensuring that students of the South Bend Community School Corporation are provided the best possible education and opportunity for a successful future. I am sure you understand that I take seriously my responsibility of protecting the taxpayers.in balancing both educational and financial aspects. The obligation of the citizens of South Bend to pay for any decision will last for decades and will affect the future family budgets Of the students taught at Marquette today. With this project also comes a unique additional duty of honoring and perhaps preserving the past, given the rich history of Marquette Elementary. I take very seriously the heritage of such landmarks and what they mean to a neighborhood and a community. Prior school administrations determined that the best procedure was to add to the original structure more than once, preserving the building and meeting the changing demands of education. today and in the future: I note that the current administration also understand the role renovation can take by rehabilitating a similarly aged and constructed building, Monroe. I look forward to the report you agreed to provide within 30 days of our April 25th visit, or May 26th. During this time, architects from Hebert and Hebert and Bill Latoza of Bauer Latoza will- have illhave met and worked to find common ground as to the comparison method for the cost to rehabilitate Marquette EIementary compared with the cost to build a new facility. It appears there is significant disagreement on the elements included in the definition of "rehabilitation." I hope the report will clarify this issue.