John Fry and the American Institute of Mathematics have big
plans for the institute’s headquarters in Morgan Hill. When we
say
”
big,
”
we mean that quite literally. At 166,000 square feet, the
facility will encompass the square footage of roughly 83 typical
suburban homes.
John Fry and the American Institute of Mathematics have big plans for the institute’s headquarters in Morgan Hill. When we say “big,” we mean that quite literally. At 166,000 square feet, the facility will encompass the square footage of roughly 83 typical suburban homes.
It will be nearly double the size of the county courthouse under construction in Morgan Hill.
It will be two-thirds again as big as the Morgan Hill Home Depot store.
It will be three-fourths the size of the Gilroy Wal-Mart Super Center.
It’s important, especially given AIM’s dubious history with its golf course development, that residents and officials have this perspective on the proposal to build a Spanish-style castle in the foothills east of Morgan Hill.
It’s not going to be a small, hidden-away facility that will not impact the community.
“The building will be seen, it’s a big building,” Morgan Hill planner Jim Rowe told reporter Matt King.
But the impact of the four-level castle won’t just be to the landscape and the environment.
This is also an opportunity for the facility to positively impact the quality of life of the South Valley community.
We urge the city, as it reviews the environmental impact reports, the aesthetics, the traffic and noise concerns, sewer capacity, building code and parking requirements, to find ways to formalize the benefits of this project to the community.
Of course, AIM must follow all applicable ordinances, must seek and comply with all required permits.
But we also see huge potential for benefit to area schools, social service agencies, to draw broader levels of higher education to the region, to increase tourism and to boost the South Valley’s prestige.
Wherever and whenever possible, we urge city officials to make sure these benefits are maximized with this project.
It’s a rare thing for a community to have a big thinker like John Fry who also has the financial means to make those dreams a reality.
Let’s work together to make certain that John Fry’s big dreams provide the maximum benefit for the greatest number of people.
