School Board Approves Costly Design Addition

By Natalya Bucey
The Public Spirit/Globe Times Chronicle

Centennial School Board approved Burt, Hill Architects to complete the design of the shell space in the newly planned Region 2 Elementary School at its meeting Tuesday.

The school will be built on the site of McDonald Elementary School located at the intersection of Street Road and Reeves Lane in Warminster.

Board member Mark Miller presented the resolution for the board’s vote.

According to Miller the architectural firm will design the shell space as a storage facility that may later be converted into additional classrooms. Burt, Hill Architects will then present its plans as an alternative during the bidding and building contract awards.

The issue of the necessity of the shell space design came up for the board’s vote twice before and was rejected both times. Following a heated debate on the issue at the meeting, the board’s vote split with five members voting in favor of the design and four rejecting it.

The initial design will cost the district $30,000 and will have the designs ready for the bidding process. If the board then approves the alternative and votes in favor of building-in the shell space, it will take additional $20,000 to complete the designs for the storage facility, Miller said.

Miller added that he does not think that at this point there is enough support on the board to actually build the storage facility, which will cost about $1.2 million, but he would like to have the designs done now to keep the possibility of building-in available.

“I am not voting in favor of building the shell,” Miller said. “We have not completed our redistricting. We don’t know what our options are and it’s important to keep our options open in case we find out that we need that space.”

Board member Cynthia Mueller agreed with Miller, stating that she supports having the alternative of building the additional storage space when the project goes to bidding.

“I would like to have the option. When the bids come in, should they come in lower than expected, we can use the money for the much-needed storage space,” Mueller said.

Board President Andrew Pollack also said that having extra storage space is important.

“All we are doing is looking at is as a possibility down the road. This would be a good storage space for the entire district,” Pollack said. “A school district never ever has enough storage space for everything that it needs.”

Board member Jane Schrader Lynch presented the other side of the debate, stating that to spend such an amount of money just as an alternate is irresponsible and would not receive approval from the district’s taxpayers. She also said $1.2 million is too big of a price tag to spend on a storage facility.

Board member Michael Hartline agreed with Lynch.

“If we were to rent a storage warehouse space, even at $50,000 a year, which would be ludicrous, it would take us 25 years to pay [the $1.2 million] off, and that’s assuming we would need that space,” Hartline said. “To spend $50,000 on something that probably won’t pass anyway seems to be adding insult to injury.”

Republished with the permission of The Public Spirit/Globe Times Chronicle