Date: Fri 23-Feb-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-Hawley-School-project

Full Text:

P&Z Oks Hawley Plan

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has unanimously endorsed the proposed

expansion and renovation of Hawley School, a public school for kindergarteners

through fifth graders at 29 Church Hill Road.

The Borough Zoning Commission referred the school expansion proposal to the

P&Z for a recommendation. Because the borough has no planning commission, the

P&Z serves as the borough's planning agency.

School board chairman Herb Rosenthal told P&Z members February 15 that school

officials consider the Hawley School expansion and renovation project an

essential step to deal with the "enrollment crunch" facing local public

schools.

Adding new space onto Hawley School may eliminate the need for a fifth public

elementary school for the foreseeable future, Mr Rosenthal said. Student

population statistics indicate that the town's student enrollment is expected

to increase for at least the next eight years, he said.

Dick Webb, of Richter, Cegan and Webb, the Avon landscape architectural firm

that has helped design the project, explained to P&Z members how the Hawley

School construction proposal would relate to what exists at the site.

The "realities" of the site don't allow for separate areas for student

drop-off by school buses and by parents, he noted. Perhaps some parking spaces

on the site can be designated for student drop-off by parents, he said.

Rusty Malek, an architect for Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc, the New Britain

firm which has designed the school expansion for the town, said the proposed

construction work would add approximately 22,000 square feet of enclosed space

to the school.

The project would a add a new gymnasium, media center, science room and

administrative area to the school, he said. New staircases and an elevator

will be provided.

The overall project calls for only minor renovation work within the existing

school building, he said.

"We will replace all the windows throughout the building" to provide the

school with a sense of architectural unity, he said.

The existing school is built on five different levels, so making the entire

structure accessible to handicapped people would be virtually impossible

without gutting the building, the architect said.

P&Z member Patricia Linnell asked the planners why constructing a cafeteria

for Hawley School isn't included in the plans.

Mr Rosenthal responded that the parents of school children and the school's

staff members didn't seek a cafeteria for Hawley School. Students there now

eat lunch in their classrooms. The food is transported to Hawley School from

the nearby Newtown Middle School.

Building a kitchen in Hawley School would cost between $250,000 and $300,000,

a large amount of money when considering that the Hawley School expansion

proposal's budget has grown from approximately $1 million to almost $4 million

across time, Mr Malek said.

The cost of building a cafeteria is a design consideration, he said, noting

that school officials didn't experience pressure to build a school cafeteria

at Hawley School. The school will have warming ovens installed.

P&Z Chairman Stephen Adams wished the school board good luck with its proposal

when it appears at the Borough Zoning Commission's public hearing on the

matter at 7:30 pm on March 14 in Town Hall South.

The Hawley School expansion proposal will also be the subject of a townwide

referendum.