A s the school year moves through the fall, two significant school facility projects are moving toward completion.

At Ledyard High School, the football bleachers that were originally installed in the mid 1960s are being replaced with modern aluminum seating and risers. At the same time, a project to convert from the heating system at Ledyard Middle School, Juliet Long School, and Gales Ferry School is being completed; by mid-November, the schools will no longer burn costly fuel oil because the boilers are being converted to use natural gas instead.

Both projects were included in the Board of Education's capital improvement plan that was submitted as part of the 2011-12 budget proposal. After the budget was approved at the referendum last May, the Town Council quickly appointed building committees to coordinate the projects and work began on both of them in mid-July.

The town hired the construction firm of Dant Clayton to manufacture and install the bleachers. Throughout the summer, engineers from the firm designed the bleachers specifically for Ledyard High School while the Ledyard Director of Maintenance, Sam Kilpatrick, oversaw the removal of the old bleachers. By mid-September, the foundations for the bleachers were in place, and in the first week of October the steel beams arrived so the actual construction could begin. We anticipate the new bleachers to be completed by the end of October, and the Colonels will be ready to host home football games at the new facility.

The gas conversion project followed a similar timeline. The town appointed a building committee in June following the successful referendum. Yankee Gas Company agreed to provide a line at no cost from the gas pipe that runs along Route 12. The project requires that the boilers at the three schools be converted from burning costly fuel oil to more reasonably priced natural gas. In mid-summer, contracts were awarded and the conversion work began. The boilers are currently being refitted to allow them to operate with natural gas as the energy source; we anticipate the work being completed by mid-November.

Thanks to the lower price of natural gas, the heating costs at the middle school, Juliet Long, and Gales Ferry School will be significantly lower. This year alone, the Board of Education expects to save approximately $100,000. Since the total cost of the conversion is $200,000, the project will pay for itself in only two years and the town will realize savings to the energy account for many years to come.

Dr. Michael Graner is the Ledyard Superintendent of Schools.