By Linda Conner Lambeck
WESTPORT — A pro-and-con list and an architectural assessment will be used to help officials decide whether to fully renovate Long Lots Elementary School or replace it.
In a briefing Monday from Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice, the Board of Education was presented a long list of pluses and minuses for both options.
In addition, three firms — Silver Petrucelli & Associates of Hamden, Fuller & D’Angelo, PC., of Elmsford, N.Y., and QA+M Architects of Farmington — have been asked to submit quotes for both a renovation analysis and a study to determine if a new school can be built on the Long Lots property while students occupy the existing building.
School officials hope the reviews can be done in four to six weeks, leaving the board time to decide which option to pursue in early May.
“A decision point is approaching,” Scarice told the board.
Significant problems identified
A comprehensive report on the condition of Long Lots, once a junior high school, was provided in January.
Built in 1953, Long Lots has had ongoing maintenance issues and problems with leaks, mold and the heating and cooling systems.
A recent study by Colliers Project Leaders, the district’s construction consultant, found the school suffers not only from indoor air-quality issues and leaks, but deteriorating mechanical and electrical systems.
That study, released in January, estimated renovation costs could be at least $22 million.
Later that month, in a presentation to the school board, the consultants said the building is “aging out.”
Scarice said within the long list of criteria to consider are several that are key.
One is hazardous materials abatement. If the school is renovated, that could prolong the schedule. Not so with new construction.
A second is called “Test Fit of Campus.” Not a consideration if the school is renovated, but crucial with new construction since the test determines if there is enough room on the Hyde Lane property to construct a new building while the existing school continues in use steps away.
Calculating aid for renovated vs. new building
The architects will aid in that study and also will help determine if the school is eligible for state-supported renovation under the state’s now stringent school construction reimbursement guidelines by going through a checklist.
A state-approved renovation of the building could mean 11 percent reimbursement. Approval for a new school could result in the state footing up to 21 percent of the construction cost.
Possible relocation of preschool
Other considerations will be enrollment and instruction.
Long Lots is the largest of the town’s five elementary schools with about 580 students. Even so, it is housed in a former junior high with oversized classrooms and common areas.
If the district renovates the building, it needs to be able to show it can still appropriately use the building footprint eight years out.
Enrollment might not be a major consideration, the board was told, if Stepping Stones Preschool, currently housed at Coleytown Elementary, were moved to a renovated Long Lots.
With a new building, the school would be built “right size,” meaning for the enrollment projected, Stepping Stones would be included.
How long will project take?
Other considerations include how long the project would take — 18 to 24 months for new construction, an additional six months to a year for renovation — with no complications.
Definitive cost estimates for either option are not yet available. Scarice said it’s estimated the per-square-foot costs for new school construction could top $600.
A renovated Long Lots would require no traffic or wetland studies.
Board Vice Chairwoman Liz Heyer, who chairs the board’s Finance and Facilities Committee, said in addition to the professional guidance over the next four to six weeks, it might be good to circle back with town representatives who have walked through the school with board members to see if there are any criteria they want considered in making the decision.
“It would be much more productive and constructive to know that now so that when we go to make the decision we have all of the key components,” Heyer said.
Long Lots costs and other major capital projects/hopes for which the BoE will seek funding from the BoF and the RTM are huge cost issues. All in Town, in some way, need to weigh in, since if all of those costs, including future Town capital expenditures are approved, Westport taxes will surely go up a great deal. Tax increases are likely even with lesser amounts approved. Westport is a wealthy Town and possibly most in Westport are comfortable with a substantial tax increase. Such an increase will also raise the issue of our “tax competitiveness” with comparable towns. Long Lots and all the other items will pose the issue. The BoE, the Town, the BoF, the RTM and all of us need to address this matter.
Don Bergmann.