A New Year’s wish for Oak Park and Happy New Millennium

We hope that Oak Park Unified School District can find a solution and build a performing arts center for Oak Park High School. The facility is needed for student plays and musical performances.

It could also be used for other community events.

A potential donor may contribute half of the structure’s estimated $4.5 million cost. It would be a sad day for Oak Park if the prospective philanthropist gives up, frustrated that the district couldn’t find the balance.

Oak Park voters have historically been generous in passing school bonds, but if there’s an alternative, then we hope it can be found.

Many residents grew up in other parts of the country where high schools had gyms, cafeterias and auditoriums. For reasons unknown, Southern California high schools are usually constructed without auditoriums. This is particularly mysterious because entertainment is vital to the region’s economy.

Oak Park is a first-class community with highly ranked public schools. Its students deserve a performing arts center.

We hope you have a safe, sane New Year’s Eve.

To the purists who feel that the New Millennium actually begins with the year 2001, enjoy your belated celebration. (If a century-100 years-begins with the number one and ends with the number 100, then 101 starts the next century. Following that logic, millenniums are 1 through 1000, 1001 through 2000, and yes, 2001 through 3000. The year 0 was an anomaly. B.C. centuries were 1 B.C. through 100 B.C., 101 B.C. through 200 B.C., etc.)

Happy New Millennium!