SAU 90 Won't Build New Middle School, Board Opts for Renovation

The Hampton School Board ended years of debate and uncertainty Tuesday, formally voting 4-1 to move forward with a plan to rehabilitate rather than construct a new building to replace the aging middle school.

School board members held a lengthy debate during a special work session Tuesday night over which of the multi-million proposals to pursue, in the end electing to go with the renovation plan because members wanted to preserve a piece of Hampton's history and keep a middle school in the center of town.

"Structurally the building's in good shape, so there’s no sense in throwing the baby out with the bath water just so we can do it," said member Rusty Bridle. "We have a great building there. It's not that it's in such disrepair that it's got no value. It just needs some updating and modernization."

The future of Hampton Academy has been debated frequently over the past five or six years, including several special forums over the past year to discuss about space, accessibility, ventilation, the sprinkler system, the gymnasium, and many others.

Vice Chairwoman Maureen O'Leary was the only member of the Hampton School Board to vote Tuesday against the motion to renovate Hampton Academy, stating that she feels the building — which was originally built in 1939 as the high school and hasn't had major work since an addition in 1976 — "has outgrown its usefulness of the school."

O'Leary said the building does have a "rich history," although she said she favors building a new school on Towle Farm Road because the difference between the estimated costs for the two plans — $28 million for a new school versus $26 million to rehab the existing one — is "fairly close" and shouldn't be a factor in the decision.

Some board members have said the proposed location on Towle Farm Road is somewhat isolated from downtown and could create safety issues as students walk to and from school. O'Leary said Tuesday that the proposed new site is "seven-tenths of one mile" away from the current Academy Avenue location, and that distance also shouldn't be a factor for discarding the new building idea.

"Children walk from Hampton Academy further in [the direction of Towle Farm Road]," said O'Leary, who admitted she shares the concerns of her fellow board members about the current building remaining vacant should a new facility be constructed. "With all things considered, I don’t think we can justify asking taxpayers to spend that amount of money given the fact that we'll be working within the outside structure of the current building... I personally believe it is time that Hampton Academy relocates."

In the end, O'Leary said she will support the rest of the board's decision, which Bridle said gives the superintendent direction and allows staff a chance to get firm plans and quotes for the renovations.

SAU 90 Superintendent Kathleen Murphy said there's a chance the project could be funded partially through grant money, although she said there's also a chance the project could cost more than the $26 million estimate.

Bridle said there's also a chance in the renovation plan to work with the Hampton Board of Selectmen to find a way to use the abutting vacant district court building or the land beneath it to build a new, mixed-use gym and community center building that would serve both the town and school system.

Bridle said the school board will likely sit down with selectmen soon to discuss this possibility, as he said it could solve some of the school's space issues while solving that the town , in addition to making the overall Hampton Academy plan more appealing to taxpayers.

"Let’s get our best bang for the buck," said Bridle. "Now's really the time to start looking and moving forward."