By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Niles Community Schools Superintendent Doug Law got what he was hoping for Tuesday night: A good turnout.
About 85 community members attended the first of three forums organized by Niles Community Schools to share information about the state of its facilities and to gather information about what its district residents want and need to improve facilities.
Law said he has been asked by some about why the district is choosing now to begin this process of discussion with community members.
Steve Hoekzema of Tower Pinkster Titus Associates, the architecture firm hired by the district to assess all of its facilities, told those at the forum, "We are here to do some hard listening, because we want to know what the community is thinking.
Hoekzema discussed the results of a recent study performed by his firm about the condition of Niles school facilities.
That is where the list of good things ends, and the list of things that need improvements begins, he said.
The things that were found to need improvements were quite consistent around the district.
And there are other issues.
The next forum to discuss concerns with Niles school facilities and to gather community imput is March 16 at 7 p.m. in Niles High cafeteria.