On Tuesday, 14 Dec., the School Board had a workshop with Dan Bisson and Jim Delisle of Team Design Inc. and Blair Townsend of MacMillin. The agenda for this meeting covered a few design proposals and the process for making decisions throughout the project.
Three design proposals were discussed. The main idea was the alternative site plan with the bus loop around the rear of the building. The bus loop would be one way from Coe Drive by the new student parking lot to the new exit cut on Bagdad Road. By moving the bus loop around back, the site works better from many perspectives. Most obviously, it further separates the bus traffic from the car and pedestrian traffic, making the traffic flow more smoothly and more safely. The one way flow from Coe to Bagdad is also smoother and safer.
But the safety advantages extend beyond traffic flow. With the road in front and the bus loop in back, there will be full perimeter access to the building for emergency vehicles like fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars. As the recent fire in the rear of ORHS showed, it is more difficult for these vehicles to operate when they don't have a road. The road will have gates that restrict regular traffic but allow access to emergency vehicles.
Without the bus loop in the front, the parking lot in front will be more compact. This will lessen the amount of the site needed for this lot so even with the bus loop behind the lot, the impact on the woods at the north end will be less. The new exit onto Bagdad will be closer to the intersection with Coe Drive. Not only does this save more trees, but it also moves the road farther from the stream.
In the old plan, the road was closer to the stream and required a large retaining wall - about 20 feet in height. Moving farther from the stream reduces the retaining wall to about 5 feet. Because the bus loop is separate from the front parking lot, they can be at different levels so less ledge will be blasted. All of these changes contribute to an overall estimated savings of about $100,000 from this design change.
The concern about this change was the impact on the athletic fields. The 26 foot wide road around back crosses the current position of a field hockey field. The designers tried numerous ways to make sure they could continue to have the same or better fields with the bus loop. Actually, by moving the field hockey field and the JV soccer field, they were able to accomodate the bus loop and make both fields bigger. Currently, neither field is at regulation size. The redesigned soccer field will be regulation size and the field hockey field will be regulation length (but at the same sub-regulation width).
After discussing the design change and exploring the impact the School Board approved the new site plan. This design will now be further detailed to be approved by the town and state authorities.
The next design issue presented to the School Board is the new Industrial Arts rooms. Because of the fire that destroyed the old wood shop, a new Industrial Arts shop and classroom is needed more urgently. On the original project schedule, the Industrial Arts rooms were one of the last parts of the new construction. Now they will be one of the first, so they will be built as part of Phase I with the new classroom wings.
Because the Industrial Arts rooms are in Phase I, the mechanical rooms that were going to be built as part of the classroom wings can be relocated next to the Industrial Arts space. The mechanical rooms are needed as part of Phase I to provide electricity and heat to the new spaces as they are put into use. That's why they were part of the classroom wings. But, the Industrial Arts space is a better space for them because this puts them closer to the maintenance area. They will also be closer to shipping and receiving so heavy equipment won't need to be hauled as far. This also puts them closer to the heavy use area of the larger public spaces like the locker rooms and gym, cafeteria, auditorium and public rest rooms.
This change allowed another mechanical room near the cafeteria to be consolidated at the new location. By relocating this room and adjusting the adjoining rooms, the entire gym wing was brought in a few feet. Putting the mechanical room next to the Industrial Arts room caused the Industrial Arts room to be redesigned so it is longer and narrower. This will provide direct access to the stage from the shop instead of through a storage room where student projects will be kept. It also allows direct access to the Industrial Arts classroom from the corridor instead of through the shop as in the previous design.
The last design issue discussed with the School Board was the planetarium. The original design was to place the planetarium on the first floor in the commons area at the end of the science wing. This planetarium is currently in a special room off the gym on the north end of the school. The planetarium is a large half sphere with a sunken area of tiered seating. The planetarium dome actually protrudes above the ceiling of the room.
Relocating the planetarium as planned causes problems. If we move the planetarium then we must make it handicapped accessible. The problem is the sunken seating. To make it accessible would require a ramp 26 feet long. To raise the planetarium would take up the room on the second floor. To move the planetarium and not make it accessible would require a waiver of the law.
The planetarium is not used continuously. It is treated as a lab for the Stellar and Solar Astronomy classes. For most of the school day it is empty. Since the planetarium was installed in the 1970's, technology has advanced significantly, so much of the benefit of the planetarium is available through the Internet, software, or even portable planetariums. The planetarium is also not reliable and would be costly to repair.
Since the original design was done, another Special Education staff member has been added, so another room is needed. The Special Education rooms are just down the hall from the planetarium. By removing the planetarium, another special education room can be added. The mechanical rooms on the first and second floor will be relocated to the planetarium room (which has no windows) and the mechanical rooms will be turned into a special education room on the first floor and additional classroom on the second floor.
After discussing what everyone's expectations were and a few options to consider, the School Board decided to continue the Facilities Committee with David Taylor and Shirley Thompson, and to replace Drew Christie with Joan Valentine. Drew was not able to dedicate the time needed for the committee and Joan can bring her experience from previous projects.
The School Board decided to advertise for the Clerk of the Works for this ORHS project. The advertised salary range will be $900 to $1,100 per week without benefits. The Clerk of the Works applications will be reviewed by the SAU administrators and the finalists will be interviewed by the School Board for selection. The Clerk of the Works will start around February.
The Clerk of the Works is hired by the school district directly. He or she will be a qualified professional who will oversee the project.
Several Durham officials joined the architect, site engineer, construction manager, SAU administrators and 2 School Board members to discuss the local permits needed for the project. Durham officials from Planning, Public Works, Fire and Police were present. They were presented the site plan approved by the School Board and were asked if they saw any initial problems. Consistently, the new bus loop was judged an improvement, particularly for safety and fire. The Durham officials were also asked to describe what permits were needed, how they needed to be filed and presented and the process each permit required. The meeting was productive and demonstrated the cooperation between the school district and town officials to make this a successful project. The Police and Fire departments also made arrangements with the architect to go over the building plans in detail once they are on a Compuer Aided Design (CAD) system. This review will ensure that the building can be safely and effectively accessed for both fire and police.
Monday, 20 Dec. was the date for the hearing on the lawsuit challenging the ORHS bond. The hearing was at the Strafford Superior Court in Dover at 1:00. The hearing was open to the public. Attorneys for both side filed memoranda and presented outlines of their arguments. The ruling is still pending.
The cost of borrowing money continues to rise. According to Bloomberg, the cost of the bond if it sold last June would have been 4.91%. The bond sale that was held in Nov. was at 5.59%. Now the rate is 5.69%. That's an increase of about 8 basis points (hundredths of a percent) per month.
If the bond had sold as planned, the ORSD would have the money on 16 Dec. A conservative investment of 5.85% in a 30 day CD for the $19.9 million would return almost $3,200 per day to offset the bond rate or reduce taxes. The cost from 16 Dec. to the 20 Dec. trial date from the investment alone is about $16,000.
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Last update on 23-Dec-99 at 3:51 PM.
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This page is edited by David K. Taylor. Please send questions or comments to editor@orol.org.