By John Schwing
WESTPORT — A ropes course/play area at Coleytown Middle School, planned for more than a year, has hit a stumbling block after work on the project started before school officials secured the required permits.
Immediate progress on the “FitCore Extreme Playground” at the school — one of two such facilities at the town’s middle schools, financed with $439,000 in federal pandemic relief money — is suspended, although Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice said Wednesday the school district is committed to moving “forward promptly and in full compliance with all regulations and safety requirements.”
In the meantime, however, a Planning and Zoning Commission hearing on the “8-24 report” required for the project was cancelled last week after school officials abruptly withdrew the application.
The process of navigating the plan through the bureaucratic obstacle course was upended after Diana and Scott Metro, neighbors of Coleytown Middle School, in a March 8 letter to the Planning and Zoning Department, reported that, to their surprise, “large construction vehicles” had begun digging behind the school.
After contacting the school district’s facilities director, they said they were told the work was for a new “ropes course” and work was expected to be complete within a week.
The date they reported construction began was Feb. 19 — more than a week before a Feb. 28 request from First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker for the Planning and Zoning Commission to approve the 8-24 report for the project. Such reports must be approved by zoning officials, under state law, when work on any municipal property is proposed.
The Metros also wrote that when another neighbor, Carol Mueller, contacted the Planning and Zoning Department, she was told, at that point, none of the requirements to notify neighbors or to secure permits had been carried out by school and town officials.
On March 5 — two weeks after construction reportedly began — the Metros said they received notification the P&Z had scheduled a March 13 hearing on the 8-24 report needed for the ropes/play area project.
They wrote the hearing’s timing would be insufficient to allow consideration of other options for the project, since they and others have concerns about the playground. Among those issues are its proposed location atop the school’s septic system and its proximity to abutting neighbors and a nearby playing field, they said.
The conservation permit for the project was not issued until March 6.
Further complicating the project’s future is a letter from Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Fava, filed March 8, opposing the proposed site.
Fava objected to the play area’s location because it would “negate” future expansion of playing fields on the school property, which her department would like to do. She said the site also would pose a safety risk to children using the playground who might be hit by balls or other sports equipment from the nearby field.
An exasperated Fava also said was she was not notified about the playground project until Feb. 13, only days before equipment was scheduled to be on site Feb. 16.
Scarice, responding by email to questions from the Westport Journal, wrote, “I have only been in district for three years and this is the first project of this nature that I’ve proposed during that time, but I am not aware of such permits for property/fields zoned for school use in the past, for example, at our elementary schools.”
But, he added, the school district’s plans for the extreme playgrounds at both middle schools “remain firmly in place and we intend to move forward promptly and in full compliance with all regulations and safety requirements, working together with all relevant town bodies.”
He did not directly address whether school officials would be willing to revise the Coleytown plan in response to the concerns expressed by neighbors or Fava.
The planned ropes course/play area, Scarice said, “will expand critical opportunities for our middle school students to engage in healthy physical activity during recess, and will also benefit community members who can access the equipment outside of school hours.”
The project, the superintendent added “will fill a substantial gap in our outdoor offerings for students and will be a positive addition to our schools and the broader community.”
John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.
I have been a member of the Public Site and Building Commission for several years. The committee includes architects, engineers, builders and the Town’s building inspector. Essentially, the committees’ role is act as the owner’s representative for all Town owned buildings. The committee has been involved in the oversight of many projects over the years such as; the library rehabilitation projects, the expansion of the Senior Center and all of the school projects, etc.
One of the projects the PSBC has been involved with is the forthcoming renovation of the Gillespie Center. Most residents are unfamiliar with the Center’s work nor location. (it’s across the street from the police station) Helen McAlinden runs the center and has assembled a meager capital improvements budget through various grants and fundraising events. Needless to say, the rehabilitation of this structure is long overdue. The brick structure, if you can believe it, is completely uninsulated in several locations. The budget for this project includes funds for badly needed insulation as a part of other improvements to the facility.
The committee suggested Helen pursue unused ARPA funds to assist with the capital improvements. Her budget for the entire project has hovered around $1.0M. Given the fact Helen’s annual operating budget earmarks an unusually high line item for heating and cooling, it has been a challenge to locate the funds to insulate the building, upgrade its heating and cooling systems, to prepare the facility for use in today’s world. The PSBC suggested the installation of an array of photovoltaic panels on the roof of the structure to ease the annual heating and cooling expenses, which could then be redirected into meaningful programs for its users. We were told all the unused Town ARPA funds had already been accounted for and were unavailable for this project.
Given the collapse of this “rope course project” I suggest the Town redirect those funds for use on the Gillespie Center renovation.
As the article points out, the proposed fitness play area for Coleytown Middle School (CMS) is being funded by federal pandemic relief funds under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), of which the Town was awarded $8.4 million. Among the many Town-wide projects that have been approved by the Board of Finance and the RTM, is a ropes course at Staples High School, fitness course play areas at the two middle schools, and outdoor classrooms at the five elementary schools. In the case of CMS, the proposed location of the fitness play area is at the south end of the field behind the school. The spot was chosen because it (i) would not interfere with the current use of the field, (ii) would not interfere with the septic system or encroach upon the setback and (iii) is within the area where students are supervised during recess. Moreover, it is an area that has not been utilized in 20+ years. In fact, the irrigation system in that area is not even functional. Most importantly, there is no other available space on the CMS campus to serve as an alternative.
In a memo dated March 8, 2023 to the Planning & Zoning Commission, the Director of the Parks & Recreation Department noted that “Over the past several years, the field in question has been utilized for 7v7 and 9v9 soccer, although the space is large enough to accommodate 11v11 soccer. The installation of the ‘Play Area’ would prohibit the field from ever being utilized for 11v11 soccer, which may be necessary in the future as participation numbers fluctuate.” The Director further opined that the field might be needed for other sports as they become more popular in the future, or to accommodate any temporary closure of other Town fields necessitated by renovations.
While an additional playing field for organized sports would be a wonderful asset to our Town, the proposed fitness play area will provide an opportunity to promote the health and well-being of children who may not participate in organized sports, but whose well-being should be no less of a priority. According to the Parks & Recreation website, the Town already manages “four artificial turf fields and more than 20 grass fields.” The only facilities available for student activities during recess at CMS are basketball hoops and painted foursquare on the small blacktop area. The fitness play area will provide a wonderful opportunity for students to socialize and engage with one another.
One of the stated purposes of the ARPA funds is to promote “public health.” The proposed fitness play area will be a critical outdoor resource for CMS students and will also be available to the public after school and on weekends. In addition, it can be used by Parks & Recreation camps in the summer such as Rec’ing Crew which is currently run out of CMS. The physical, cognitive, sensory, social and emotional benefits of play and physical activity are well documented. The proposed fitness play area would also help address the negative effects of social isolation and stress on childhood development that have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The proposed fitness play area would serve over 400 students during each school day. The benefit to public health would be direct and immediate. Conversely, the proposal by Parks & Recreation to leave the field as-is in order to allow potential future use, does not maximize the use of the space. To be clear, the proposed fitness play area would not impede the CURRENT use of the field; it would only limit a potential change in FUTURE use. CMS students are excited to use the space NOW. They are thrilled by the prospect of the proposed fitness play area comprised of FitCore fitness components that were selected by a vote of CMS students last year.
The proposed fitness play area was approved by the Board of Education, Board of Finance, RTM and all relevant Town departments and governing bodies to date, with the exception of the Parks and Recreation Department. We are hopeful that the project will be approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission in April and the students can enjoy the new fitness play area this Spring.
Respectfully submitted,
The Executive Board of the Coleytown Middle School PTA
I could not agree more with the CMS PTA!
Giving over 400 EXISTING children the opportunity to exercise and play EVERY DAY vs “saving” an open field for OCCASIONAL sports to be played by a handful of POSSIBLE additional children that may (or may not) appear at some point in the future seems like a no-brainer to me.
I appreciate that many people in town might like this additional money for other very worthy town projects, but let’s not forget that in the not-so-distant past both CMS and BMS endured a couple of years of real tumult. These play-scapes would be a wonderful finishing touch to getting both schools back to being joyful places to learn and grow.