Regional School Building Subcommitte Notes Intense Review Underway of all Sites in Southern Ave./School St. Corridor
1/18/2005
The School Building Committee’s site evaluation and architectural firm, Mount Vernon Group, has begun an in-depth review of all possible sites with adequate land for the new Middle and High Schools.
The corridor between the town centers is the subject of the Committee’s most intense scrutiny. Overlay maps for a two-mile wide corridor (one mile on each side of Southern Avenue/School Street and including Lincoln Street) are being developed to identify any possible sites that may have been overlooked in previous site searches. The overlay maps include consideration of all factors key to a site being readily useable for a school. These include identification of streams, ponds, wetlands and conservation land, distances from utilities, sewer and water mains, current ownership, topography and soil conditions.
Once the search for all possible sites is complete, the consultants will use a set of grids to detail how each site measures up against the criteria of adequacy, cost, and environmental and community considerations. From that list, the committee will select a short list for further evaluation.
The Building SubCommittee and the School Committee met in a joint meeting on January 25 to discuss the site selection progress. At that time, the School Committee re-affirmed the intention to locate grades 6-12 together, organized in a middle and high school.
The committees will be meeting over the next several weeks to establish a communications plan, including a forum on the current site evaluation work.
The next School Building Subcommittee meeting is Thursday, February 3 at 7:30 in room 25 of the High School. Our focus will be the detailed review of final overlay maps of Southern Avenue/School Street corridor. Members of the public are invited.
COMMENTS & QUESTIONS:
School Building Committee c/o Superintendent’s Office Manchester Essex Regional High School Lincoln Street Manchester, MA 01944
All citizens of Essex and Manchester are invited and welcomed to our meetings, particularly at this crucial time. Please come and help us find the best possible site for our new school..
|