Last October, we posted about the site where Bruce Monroe Elementary School once stood, highlighting the messy debate which had surfaced after the school was controversially demolished. In short: the community has been using the site as a park, but the city’s redevelopment RFP produced a single bid proposing two options — one a mixed-use development with a organic supermarket, a restaurant, a hardware store, apartments and town homes; the other, rebuilding the school with, perhaps, some housing on the side.

Well, the city has decided to move on the first option: Park View D.C. reports that Deputy Mayor for Education De’Shawn Wright announced on Friday that the city would not be pursuing a new Bruce Monroe school as part of the project. Instead, Wright said, the city would move toward accelerating a modernization of the nearby Park View Elementary School, located at 3560 Warder Street NW.

There are certainly those who would have preferred to see a new school on the grounds, but removing the “school” portion of the school/mixed-use/park debate that had developed could potentially relieve some of the headaches the site’s future has been creating around the community.