Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of the proposed site for Liberty Academy of Columbus in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, May 4, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ind. — A new private school has pushed its opening day back by about two weeks.
Liberty Academy of Columbus, which school officials previously said would open Aug. 9, has moved its start date to Aug. 21 to “best prepare for our students and teachers,” said school head Victor “JR” Huff.
Additionally, there appears to be some uncertainty around where the school will be located.
School officials previously sought and received a use variance from the Columbus Board of Zoning Appeals to locate the academy at 101 National Road in Columbus Township, which is zoned for Industrial: Light. The board approved the request in late May.
When asked about the status of building preparations, Huff said that the school was planning to use a different site for its initial launch.
“We’re looking to enter into a short-term facilities usage agreement with a local church to basically use some of their space to launch while we’re waiting for the preparation of 101 (National Road),” he said. “We are really happy to be able to be a blessing to them, and we are happy that they’re also able to help and give us a foothold as we get started.”
Huff said he was not at liberty to disclose the name of the church as the agreement was still under attorney review.
When asked if Liberty Academy still planned to use the National Road facility as a school eventually, he said that was still the plan. He was unsure how long they would be at the temporary location due to factors such as construction schedules and legal steps that would need to be taken at the National Road property.
However, Huff later told The Republic, “After our conversation the other day I realized that we still have a very fluid situation with our facility and would prefer that it wasn’t included in any discussion about Liberty at this time. I may have a different answer for you next week, but for right now I would like any discussion about 101 (National Road) omitted from a story.”
The City of Columbus – Bartholomew County Planning Department’s staff report had indicated that even with variance approval, there would be more work to do before the National Road facility was ready to open as a school.
Per the report, code enforcement officials said that the proposed use of the site — Group E, Educational — is considered a change of use of the structure under the Indiana Building Code.
“Due to that, a filing is required with the State Fire and Building Services Plan Review Department,” officials wrote. “The structure is required to meet the current building code requirements for the new Group E occupancy. The filing is commonly done by a design professional such as an architect or structural engineer after an evaluation of the building by that person. This would be done after the use variance outcome from the BZA is known.”
For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
