By Dan Aceto

Staff Writer

Preliminary designs for a new Wentworth Intermediate School have been halted as town officials question whether to preserve a portion of the existing school as a community center.

Paul Koziell, chairman of the Wentworth Building Committee, last week told the Town Council and School Board the committee can’t finalize a proposal until the council decides what to do with the school.

 “This is a tough issue that will not and cannot be resolved by the building committee,” Koziell said. 

The Wentworth Building Committee has advised the council since November about development of a new intermediate school, but lacks the authority to decide if the building should be torn down,Koziell said.

The town in January proposed using a portion of the existing Wentworth building as a community center to accommodate a variety of after-school programs and other events if a new school is built, said Town Manager Tom Hall.

A community center would utilize the existing building from the foyer to the gym, cafeteria, band room and library, approximately 40,000 to 50,000 square feet. All other areas of Wentworth would be demolished to make way for the new school, Koziell said.

Hall said he wants to make sure the building is no longer usable before it is demolished. He and other council members will meet Monday with a traffic consultant to discuss whether such a project would be practical.

“This is something that needs to be fully explored before it is dismissed,” Hall said.

Hall said a new community center could cost upward of $4 to $5 million for just the exterior “shell” of a building. Although community services could take place at the new school, he said he favors building a new community center if saving the existing Wentworth building proves impractical. Koziell said there is no estimated cost for  how much the new intermediate school, and that he intends for the proposal to go to referendum in November.

Although the building committee has already determined a new school would have to be built on the back half of the current campus toward Bessworth Child Care, Koziell said the committee can’t accurately determine the school’s size and shape until the council decides whether to keep a portion of the old school. 

“This is an issue that is affecting the whole site plan layout,” Koziell said.

Councilor Ronald Ahlquist spoke out against using the existing intermediate school for community purposes and said maintenance of the facility would be costly.

Although some community members have expressed interest in preserving a portion of the existing school, Council Chairman Judith Roy said she supports construction of a new school and does not want to interfere with the building committee’s process.

“My biggest concern as a council member is not to do something that would put a roadblock in front of it,” Roy said.

Hall agreed.

“This is all predicated on the strong belief that we need a brand new school for a lot of different reasons,” Hall said. “By retaining a portion of the old Wentworth, it makes the site fairly congested and if that hampers the building committee then that is pretty critical information.”

Some school board members said they hoped the board would play a role in the decision to keep a portion of the existing school.

 “I hope that we have time to have a discussion,” said board member John Cole. “We need to lay out the pros and cons of what the cost implications are if we keep pieces of it.”

School board member Aymie Hardesty said although the board does not have the final say in whether the building stays intact, she is concerned whether the building could pose potential health and safety risks to children and the elderly. 

“If we preserve a building that impacts our children, I feel strongly that there needs to be input from the board to weigh in,” Hardesty said.

Last August asbestos was detected on the outside paneling of 28 windows at Wentworth Intermediate School. The discovery prompted former superintendent David Doyle to hire Northeast Test Consultants to analyze air quality levels at the school. Those tests found air quality at the school was safe and did not pose a health hazard.

Hall said he is mindful of safety concerns and that further remediation work can be done if the need arises. 

“We have an obligation to provide a safe facility and there are ways to mitigate the situation at a cost,” Hall said. “There is a distinct difference between having kids in the classroom for five to six hours in terms of duration and exposure and I’m confident in the amount of work the school has undertaken to remedy issues. This has all been verified by lots of data and testing that suggest it is not a health hazard.”

Koziell said a new intermediate school would require demolition of Bessworth Child Care. He said adequate notice would be given before the building was razed and it would not be done when day care would be in session.

The center currently serves approximately 40 children between the ages of 3 and 4, and is a meeting place for community services and activities. Koziell said he hopes after school programs would resume at the new Wentworth Intermediate School. Bessworth is owned by the town, and charges monthly tuition for day care services as well as weekly tuition for pre-school.

Raelene Bodman, child care manager for the town, said the need for child care in town is not something that will diminish.

“The need will not go away,” Bodman said. “Especially if the economy picks back up.”

Hall said the town is prepared to eliminate the Bessworth building if the need arises.

“If it doesn’t work out, I see the town getting out of the day care business,” Hall said. “I can’t imagine justifying building new facilities for day care programs.”

Hall said although the town originally built Bessworth in response to community needs, private options exist for pre-kindergarten day care.

While the size of a new intermediate school has not been determined, Koziell said the committee has outlined preliminary plans for its interior design. 

Among these plans are an adjoining cafeteria and gym that would be brought together by a stage in the middle. Koziell said the area could be used to host separate meetings or one large meeting.

The committee also proposed lockers that would feature whiteboards on the reverse side in classrooms. The whiteboards would be on a rolling mechanism that would allow them to slide back and forth and provide storage for chairs and other equipment in the wall, Koziell said.

A new access road also is proposed that would direct traffic toward the front of the building and allow for green space to surround the school on three sides. 

School Board member Rob Mitchell said he was impressed by the building committee’s work.

“I think these are great recommendations,” Mitchell said. “The time is right, and this is a fiscally sound decision. This is a building that would work for the next 30 to 50 years.” 

Koziell said the building committee intends to have a final site plan proposal done in June for the Town Council.

Hall said he and Town Council members are scheduled to meet with a traffic consultant Monday to determine whether construction of a new school would be feasible if a portion of the existing building remains. 

“The committee has a very aggressive timeline and our intent is not to slow that process up,” Hall said. “By the middle of next week I want to make a decision of what to do.”

He said he fully supports construction of a new intermediate school and the council could make a decision at its meeting next Wednesday.

 “If the site can’t work because of retaining the old Wentworth then the decision is pretty clear to abandon the idea. But if there is a way to make it work then it may be worthy of further conversation or consideration,” Hall said. “First and foremost we don’t want to do anything that’s going to derail the education and needs of the kids.”

A public workshop will be held at 10 a.m. March 23 and March 26 to tour Wentworth Intermediate School and answer the public’s questions about the building committee’s progress.