Wolcott Seeks $3.6 Million for School/Library Addition

by Amy Kolb Noyes

WOLCOTT - The Wolcott School Board, last week, unanimously decided to
seek a 20 year bond to build an addition onto the Wolcott Elementary
School. The proposed addition includes a new space with improved
community access to the Glee Merritt Kelley Community Library. A bond
vote has been set for Tuesday, October 19.
An addition to the Wolcott School has been on the school board's radar
screen for several years. Previous plans called for an "L" to be added
off the front of the building, where the kindergarten playground is
located. In working with the architectural firm Black River Design, a
new plan emerged this year. School Director Jan Roy noted the new design
takes into consideration security concerns which had not been an issue
in the past.
Plans call for a covered entry way leading to an airlock space for
improved energy efficiency. From the airlock, visitors can go straight
to enter the school or turn right to go to the new library space. School
Director D.J. Masi, who headed up the building committee, said the front
addition will be "pleasing to the eye as you come up." He said the
library was designed with some real aesthetic values, including high
ceilings, ceiling fans and a glass facade.
The library will include an adult reading space, a meeting space for
community use after school hours, a librarian work room and storage for
items such as audio/visual equipment. The school portion of the front
addition will include a reception area, a principal's office, an nurse's
office and a staff room.
An addition to the east end of the school will include six new
classrooms and a janitor's closet. Existing classrooms in the east wing
of the school will be reassigned to house preschool, two kindergarten
classes and a computer lab. Masi noted the new plans minimize the need
to knock down existing interior walls.
A slab with a canopy will be constructed off the kitchen in the rear of
the existing school building to act as a service entrance. Slabs will
also be poured for a walk-in cooler and a freezer for the kitchen.
The existing school bathrooms will be reconfigured to comply with
handicapped accessibility laws. Showers at the rear of the bathrooms
will become gym storage.
The space now housing the Glee Merritt Kelley Community Library will
become a multipurpose space. In Masi's words, it will be used for art,
music, special science projects, the after school program or however
else the staff sees fit.
The price of the addition also includes updates such as new carpeting
and painting the west wing classrooms. Energy savings are planned
through upgrades such as lighting retrofits and a new roof over the
entire building. Two new boilers will also be installed to replace the
existing boiler. Some duct work will be changed for improved air
circulation.
In response to a strong recommendation from the state Department of
Education, the school board unanimously decided to include paving as
part of the construction project. Masi said the state is "very concerned
about air quality issues" and suggested paving the front parking area,
up to the east and west wing doors. The drive around the rear of the
building will not be paved. Paving and associated sitework was estimated
to cost $73,000. According to tax rate estimates, the inclusion of
paving would add three-tenths of a cent to the tax rate, if spread out
over a 20 year bond.
The overall project, if approved, will add an estimated eight cents to
the Wolcott tax rate, or $80 per year on a $100,000 home. The Department
of Education will commit to $668,773 in state aid toward the $3,583,571
project. That figure represents 30% of "qualified expenses," but only
approximately 20% of the overall project cost. The Wolcott School Board
has two accounts, the balance of which will also be put toward the
project to decrease the final bond amount, which has yet to be
announced. They include an $85,000 rent escrow account, containing rent
collected from the lease of the old School Street building (now called
the School Street Center), and a $137,000 building escrow account.
Voters at Town Meeting have authorized the school to turn the School
Street Center over to the town for possible town office space or other
uses. Town and school officials expect that transaction to take place
after the construction of the proposed Elementary School addition.
Currently the school board uses the School Street Center to house
kindergarten and preschool programs.
The school board plans to meet Monday evening, September 13, to finalize
an information sheet to be sent home with students and mailed to Wolcott
voters. The first informational meeting on the bond vote is scheduled
for Wednesday, September 22. School Directors said they did not schedule
the bond vote for election day in November because they felt the issue
is "so important it deserves its own day."