Adams-Cheshire School Project Set at $40.5 Million
 Schematics for the Adams-Cheshire school project include 16,000 square feet of additional space at Hoosac Valley High School. |
Adams-Cheshire Regional School District Superintendent Alfred Skrocki released the numbers Wednesday afternoon during a meeting at the school with media and local school officials.
While cost is nearly double that estimated for renovating Adams Memorial Middle School, the state School Building Authority has endorsed the project and is contributing $28.2 million.
Adams' contribution would be $8.6 million and Cheshire, $3.7 million. According to Cheshire Selectman Daniel Delorey, the deal can’t get much better.
"This is a $40 million facility and we're getting it for less than 10 percent of its cost," he said of Cheshire's share. "It's a 90 percent off sale. Interest rates are low. We’re in a good time and a good environment to do this."
Adams Town Administrator Jonathan Butler agreed that the price was right for both towns and that the project represented much more than just a building.
"This has the potential to be something that introduces growth," Butler said. "It's addressing facility issues for three places in one project. Essentially we’re killing two birds with one stone."
The current schematic for the project includes nearly 16,000 square feet of new space in addition to the high school's original footprint of 159,000 square feet. The space will accommodate not only the school’s Grade 9 through 12 population but also Grades 6 through 8 since students were forced to vacate the Adams Middle School last year because of its deplorable condition and budget cutbacks. The middle school would be housed in a seperate wing.
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In addition to providing a safe and energy-efficient environment for its students, the building committee also envisions the new space as a community center.
"It's a state-of-the-art academic facility that can offer new programs," Skrocki said. "It's environmentally sensitive and it will be open for community use."
Before construction can begin, both towns will have to approve the project by voting in October to allow the district a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion on borrowing. In several public meetings (the first is set for Oct. 4) scheduled for next month, Skrocki and the building committee will be busy addressing the many details of the project.
"There are three major aspects we plan to cover," Skrocki said. "First is the facility project itself; what's the site going to look like. Principal [Henry] Duval and I will then be addressing the educational value of the facility. And Jon Butler and Dan Delorey will provide information on the cost to the towns and the tax rates."
Planning for the project began several years ago, first looking at renovating the middle school and high school building separately. In looking at costs and population, the SBA and building committee settled on renovating the high school for Grades 6-12 as the best alternative.
According to project designer Robert Stevens of Tessier Associates Inc. of Springfield, once the project is approved the "goal is to try to get construction under way by next summer." The timeline for the project is approximately 15 months, which will put students out of the school for the 2011-2012 academic year.
School officials determined earlier this year that relocating the student population would be more efficient than trying to work around them at the high school. While it is not yet confirmed where students will be placed, the idea of temporarily relocating them back to the Adams Middle School building has been raised.
"What is important to know about this is that everyone is engaged in the decision making," Skrocki said. "This is going to be the best thing for these two communities long after we're gone."
For more information on public meetings and to view the current schematic plans visit www.acrsd.net.
