The Sonora Union High School District Board of Trustees has rejected the plan submitted by the Historic Dome Preservation Group (HDPG) and have offered no alternative plan to the HDPG. The plan submitted by the HDPG was designed to transfer ownership of the Dome from the District to the HDPG in phases, as renovation milestones were achieved. However, the trustees now plan to keep the building, a reversal of a decision by previous trustees. The current trustees’ plan is to use the building for storage in the basement, and leave the two upper floors empty. They have no intention of renovation the building other than possibly fixing the leaking roof. The trustees also plan to have the building appraised with the possibility of putting the building on the open real estate market. Regardless of the appraised value, the building is only worth what some one is willing to pay for it, and in its current condition, the building has very little cash value.
The trustees’ actions are short-sighted and detrimental to the preservation of the Dome building.