Architects: Overhauling Norwich schools would cost $378 million
Norwich — The proposal to build four new elementary schools on existing school properties plus the former Greeneville School site would cost $378.9 million, with the city’s cost at $149 million after state reimbursement, project architects revealed Tuesday.
The plan is only slightly more costly than renovating the existing aging, cramped elementary schools, but with more equitable, usable education space, officials from the city’s architectural firm told the Board of Education on Tuesday in the Kelly STEAM Magnet School auditorium. Renovations needed at the Teachers’ Memorial Global Studies Middle School would be the costliest, estimated at $99 million, with the city’s cost at $32.1 million.
The School Building Committee in May endorsed the concept for the four new elementary schools, each with about 525 students in preschool through fifth grade. The grounds of the Moriarty Environmental Sciences Magnet School, the John B. Stanton School and Uncas School and property where the Greeneville School had stood were selected as the best sites. The district now has seven elementary schools and one preschool center.
The plan would close the school central office building, moving those offices and adult education into the Huntington School. Wequonnoc School in Taftville would become a virtual learning center. The Thomas Mahan, Veterans’ Memorial, Bishop Early Learning Center and central offices in the former John Mason School all would be discontinued.
The city’s two middle schools — the recently renovated Kelly STEAM Middle School and the extensively renovated Teachers Memorial school — and the post-high school vocational Norwich Transition Academy in the recently renovated Case Street School will remain unchanged.
Officials from the architectural firm Drummey Rosane Anderson Inc., or DRA, which has an office in South Windsor, on Tuesday presented details of their work thus far and a conceptual plan for the restructuring project. Mark Jeffko, project executive for partner firm O&G Industries, provided the cost estimates for each school.
The school board was not asked to endorse the conceptual plan Tuesday. A public informational session is tentatively scheduled for June 28, though a location has not yet been set. The School Building Committee hopes to finalize plans in time to place a referendum question on the ballot at the Nov. 8 election.
Gregory Smolley DRA senior project manager, said the proposed school buildings would be divided internally with “upper elementary” and “lower elementary” wings, with certified staff in those specialty areas. Each would have more playground and athletic field space, he said.
At the 14-acre Moriarty property on Lawler Lane, the proposal would build a new $62.9 million two-story school on the baseball field and nearby property, with the city’s share of the cost at $25.3 million. The existing school would remain open during construction. The design would allow for a bus drop-off loop, improved parking and a better geographical orientation for a new baseball field, Smolley said.
The 24-acre Stanton School site is hampered by wetlands and a piped stream beneath the front of the existing building. Architects proposed a $66 million two-story school built into an existing slope, reserving flat ground for athletic fields and playgrounds. The city’s share of the cost would be $26 million.
Uncas School has 11 acres, smaller than desired, Smolley said, but workable. DRA proposed a $65.4 million new school on the upper flat area behind the current school, straightening and extending Elizabeth Street Extension for better traffic flow. The city’s share would be $26.2 million.
The former Greeneville School site on Golden Street plus city-owned property that extends to Boswell Avenue proved the best new site for the fourth school, with a new road from Golden Street to Boswell Avenue. The new school was estimated at $60.3 million, with the city’s cost at $23.7 million.
The Huntington renovation would cost $25 million, with the city’s share at $15.5 million.
Smolley said without restructuring, projections show population growth trends in the city would lead to more disparities among schools with large enrollments, including Moriarty and Stanton, and those with projected declining enrollments, such as Veterans’ Memorial School.
The proposed new plan would place the city’s schools closer to projected population centers, reducing bus transportation.
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