By Linda Conner Lambeck
WESTPORT — A new Long Lots Elementary School could be built on two sites on its Hyde Lane property, but some neighbors worry either option will worsen drainage problems and put the building too close to them.
“I dare say I am going to be floating,” Edie Anderson, a Hyde Lane neighbor told the Board of Education on Monday.
The board is in the process of considering whether to build a new Long Lots School or renovate the existing structure, which was built in 1953.
Anderson said building a new school at one edge of the property or the other, as an architect has suggested, is shortsighted and would have a negative impact on the quality of life in the neighborhood.
Zach Resnick, who lives on Meadowbrook Lane, asked the board if there is any way to build the school in a more central position on the property.
“Looking at the map, it’s right up against the lot lines,” Resnick said of sketches presented to the board by David Symonds, an architect with QA&M of Farmington.
Two options for a new building
Tasked with determining if there is room on the Long Lots property to build a new 85,000- to 110,000-square-foot school while students continue to attend classes in the existing building, QA&M designated two locations at opposite ends of the property.
One option would displace community gardens and a parking lot on a lower peninsula of the school grounds.
A second option — preferred by school district officials — would use playing fields on the north end of the property.
Symonds called the north option workable. Either option would have two-story classroom wings and could accommodate the district’s Stepping Stones Preschool program (currently housed at Coleytown Elementary School) in addition to Long Lots.
The so-called test-fit is part of a series of considerations being made to determine if Long Lots should be renovated or replaced.
Other considerations will be a review of hazardous materials abatement needed in the existing structure, space and enrollment needs, the school’s instructional model and a determination of what state aid will be contributed to the project.
Built in 1953, Long Lots is said to be aging out. It has maintenance issues and problems with leaks, mold and the heating and cooling systems. The mechanical and electrical systems are deteriorating, according to the district’s construction consultants.
Symonds told the school board renovating Long Lots as new would be a challenge, particularly if students remain at the school during the process.
If a new school were built and the existing building came down, Symonds said there would be a lot of potential to expand parking, traffic loops and keep quite a bit of open space.
Scarice “excited,” neighbors not
Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice called the report a great start in the planning process.
“I am excited about the potential here,” Scarice said.
Margaret Wyrwas, of Meadowbrook Lane, did not share his enthusiasm.
Her backyard abuts the school’s softball fields. She told the board that when the school added two soccer fields, it created a huge drainage problem on her property.
“I am not excited,” she said.
Anderson said in addition to concerns about drainage, she wonders how many more cars will come in and out of the property if a preschool is added to the mix. Long Lots school has 580 students now. With Stepping Stones it would have 70 more.
Anderson also worries about the impact of lights from a school that is much closer to its neighbors.
Resnick, meanwhile, said he hasn’t experienced the drainage issue yet, but is aware of it.
He said he likes the idea of a brand-new school. His children will someday attend it.
“I realize you are jockeying around the existing [school],” he said.
Symonds said the school will be built to make sure there is effective drainage.
“Drainage issues are not insurmountable,” he said.
Board Vice Chairwomen Liz Heyer asked if there were negatives to making the school two-story, either from an accessibility or safety standpoint.
Symonds said a two-story structure would be more efficient and should not be an issue for students.
On the northern site, the property’s grade changes and slopes could make the structure somewhat of a split level, where the second story drops down instead of rises up, he said. At that location, the structure would be farther from property lines than the lower option, the board was told.
“There would be less direct impact if we are on the play fields,” Symonds said.
Scarice said he would return to the board in June with other information so that it can determine the path to take on either renovating or replacing the school.
The coming year would then be spent preparing a state grant application. It would take another two years to construct the school.
Linda Conner Lambeck is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Westport Journal. Learn more about us here.
The BoF has referred to a possible cost for a new Long Lots school at as much as $75,000,000. The BoE secured a new BMS, a major redo of Staples, $20,000,000 or so for CMS and now we have Long Lots and quite possibly major expenses for Coley El. Add to all that, the mold problems and remediation costs at other schools and it seems quite apparent that the BoE cannot manage its buildings. The BoE does a fine job in the areas of education, with good Administrators and excellent teachers. Our fine students and engaged parents also help. The BoE does a poor job in building maintenance and management I have concerns with allowing the BoE to make the decisions respecting Long Lots.
Don Bergmann
It’s not only the Board of Education that deserves a failing grade in property maintenance. The Town of Westport government on the whole would earn an “F” and and an “INCOMPLETE” as an annual grade for maintenance by report card standards.
For example, for the last 8 years or more the alignment of the front door at Town Hall has continued to deteriorate until more strength is needed to push open the door than most of us who are seniors, handicapped and/or weigh less 120 lbs. can negotiate.
As a regular visitor to Town Halls, City Halls and other government buildings in Fairfield County, the State of Connecticut and beyond, I continue to be embarrassed and appalled that “my” community pays so little heed to the needs of its physically challenged and frail citizens when it comes to access to Town Hall.
Although we are served by a Selectperson’s appointed committee that purports to exist for the benefit of the handicapped, in the 7 or so years since its creation, Town Hall remains inaccessible from grade level except via a lengthy handicapped ramp to a locked entry door.
Perhaps the cost of the security guard’s compensation for guarding the front door could be put toward the cost of an automated door.
Or maybe the cost could be funded privately by Westporters as was the case when our leaders recently chose not to fund a new ambulance from ARPA funds.
Students of basic psychology are well-versed in the concept of a hierarchy of human needs. [Source: Abraham Maslow, 1942].
If it takes another Selectperson’s Subcommittee to determine that Town Hall access for all is a greater need than a graphic novel or a song about the pandemic, than please consider me the first to volunteer.
planned obsolescence and experimentation in design followed by neglect is truly unfortunate. Notice that multiple story masonry structures are “forever buildings” They don’t submit to replacement as so many of our recent school buildings have and they certainly do not have a negative impact on the quality of education. Design experimentation belongs in the private sector where the price of poor design is paid by the experimenter.