UPDATE: Redeveloping the Okayama Korakukan Jr./Sr. High School and the Former Uchisange Elementry School

Recently, I learned that the City of Okayama is beginning to consider the possibility of future alternative uses for two important sites in the Okayama Culture Zone: the Okayama Korakukan Jr./Sr. High School and the former Uchisange Elementry School. In this posting I will briefly present my opinions on how best to deal with these sites over the short-to-medium term.

1. Okayama Korakukan Jr./Sr. High School
The Okayama Korakukan Jr./Sr. High School is located on Shiroshita-suji between the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art and the Okayama Orient Museum (to see the precise location, click on the black and white map shown in Appendix II at the very bottom of this blog). Because the school will likely relocate in the next few years, local residents are currently considering how to make use of this site.

One idea that has been raised is to relocate the Sakakibara Hospital to the school site. If this were possible, I could not think of a more ideal outcome for the site (see sub-section 1: "Relocate Sakakibara Hospital" in the "Description" section of the blog posting "Opportunity #3: Create a Marunouchi Historical Park"). If it were not possible to relocate the Sakakibara Hospital here, my next suggestion would be to simply find ways to use the site in the way that would generate the most income for the city over the short term, such as by renting classroom/assembly hall space, automobile parking spaces, and any athletic facilities. Given the state of Okayama's public finances, I do not think it would be wise at present to try to invest in developing some new facility on this site. The Okayama Culture Zone already has a wealth of public facilities, with too few people coming here to use them.

Another option would be to sell the site, but I do not think it would be wise to do so over the short term. For one thing, this would make it difficult for the city to have any say over the long-term use of this strategic location near the center of the Culture Zone. Moreover, if the city is to sell the site, it would make more sense to do so after making other improvements to the surrounding area (such as those suggested in the other postings of this blog), after which the site is likely to have considerably more property value. In short, if this site cannot be used for relocating Sakakibara Hospital, it would be best to keep the site in the City's hands, postpone any major redevelopment plans for the time being, and in the meantime find the most practical way to earn rent from the site.

2. Former Uchisange Elementary School
For the location of this school and my ideas on how to redevelop it over the long term, see sub-section 5: "Redevelop the former Uchisange Elementary School" in the "Description" section of the blog posting "Opportunity #3: Create a Marunouchi Historical Park." In this posting I will address how to deal with this property over the short term.

As with the Okayama Korakukan Jr./Sr. High School, my sense is that the city should avoid any major redevelopment plans until other basic improvements are made to the surrounding area. These would include the replacement of Tsukumi-bashi (see "Opportunity #1: Rebuild Tsukimi-bashi in traditional style"), the development of a riverside Lantern Walk (see "Opportunity #2: Create a 'Lantern Walk' along the Asahi River"), and the creation of a historical park with clear sight lines toward Okayama Castle and its surrounding defensive earthworks (see "Opportunity #3: Create a Marunouchi Historical Park"). Until such basic improvements are made, any redevelopment of the former Uchisange Elementary School is likely be inappropriate to its future (far more beautiful) surroundings, and may in fact end up damaging the future of the Okayama Culture Zone, rather than enhancing it. For example, it would be a setback for the Culture Zone if any new buildings on the site of the former Uchisange Elementary School were to block the potential sight line along Momotaro-dori toward Okayama Castle.

Instead of making any hasty plans to redevelop the former Uchisange Elementary School, Okayama City should focus on practical ways of earning rent from the site over the short to medium term, such as by renting space for automobile parking or planting grass for a soccer field that can be rented out to local clubs. A parking lot or a soccer field are easy to make, easy to use, and easy to remove when the time is ripe to redevelop this site for the long term. Until other improvements are made to the surrounding area, this time will not have come.