Courtesy of Google, here's the lot(s) that officials are eyeing for a potential West Bristol K-8 school at the southeastern corner of Clark Avenue and Matthews Street.
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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
20 comments:
I believe the arrow is slightly off target. It points to the Hospital's Wellness center (formerly NE Health and Racquet. The parcel in question is an open field on the other side of Matthews from there. Other than being a bit swampy on its southwest side, it may do the trick!
The arrow points to the middle of the intersection because I have no idea what the address of that lot is. You should look down and to the right slightly to see the field in question.
Very interesting - I still can't get used to the idea of Chippens Hill having two schools. That's not a comment for or against the idea. I grew up on the Hill and just remember when there weren't any schools in the area. The middle school was finished when I was entering 7th grade, and it's amazing that there may be another school there in the near future.
Roberts Property is the best site. Houses can't be built on the Roberts site, however, houses can be built adding to the tax rolls on the piece on the corner of Matthews @ Clark. Also, I feel bad for all those senior citizens who bought into the 55 and over complex on Matthews St. The builder is going to flip. Now they will have to deal with a school across the street! Unbelievable. Where is the master plan of our community.
New houses will not help your tax bill. What a couple pays in property tax will nowhere near pay for their two kids' education. Every house with children raises your taxes.
The least expensive and most responsible course of action is to renovate.
Houses don't really help the town's fiscal position when you consider the fact that each new house creates the need for more teachers, police, road maintenance, etc. That's why a lot of towns are actually buying up open space, because it's cheaper to buy it than let homes get built. Putting the new school on the Matthews Street site before anybody builds homes there is a win-win for Bristol.
This site is even farther away and more isolated from the people who live in the West End and Central Bristol than the Barlow Street!
Isolated area, edge of community, distant from of population being served, disconnected, totally automobile dependent, might as well be Terryville.
Does not support the longstanding West End neigborhood.
Totally agree with 11:53
Least expensive and most fiscally and socially responsible course is the rehabilitation of our longstanding neigborhood school system.
Appropriately sized schools located in neighborhoods, support the neigborhood, and support the housing values of the neigborhood being served.
How can the city say it wants to reinvigorate the West End and the downtown urban areas of Bristol and then simulateously plan to close or abandon all its schools?
Why would people even want to live and raise a family in the West End or any of the central areas of Bristol anymore?
Urban flight and slum creation being proposed by the BOE and supported by the City Council.
It's time to go back to the drawing board. Keep the K-5 system, consider the price points of renovating existing schools, replace the older K-5 schools only if they can't be reworked with newer schools near by, build a new middle school to replace Memorial Bld next door to the existing Building (athletic fields) and then tear down the old building once the new school is built and use that land for fields. The same strategy could be used for Greenhills. Use land we already own where ever possible.
It's a complete asinine idea to build a grammar/middle school on "the Roberts Property" when there already is another middle school right across the street. In adition they will be busing kids clear accross the city.
Use eminent domain to clear the land in between Divinity and Park Streets and build a school there if we must. This was the alternate plan as opposed to the sand pit originally.
Build the new school in outer space. Lots of room on the Moon for all the ballfields that these sports obsessed people keep pushing for.
Or we could buy the land for open space, renovate the schools we have, and save more money. Win-win-win!
THE ARROW DOES NOT MAKE SENSE !!
I KNOW THE LOCATIONS ARE.
THE HOSPITAL'S WELLNESS CENTER ON THE CORNER OF MATTHEWS ST. AND CLARK AVE. RIGHT ACROSS IS A HOUSE THAT HAD BEEN REMODELED. I USED TO GO THERE WHILE MY CLASSMATE LIVES ( NOW DECEASED ) ACROSS FROM THE HOUSE ARE SOME CONDOS. NEXT TO THE HOUSE IS A HUGE LAND. IS THAT WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT HAVING A SPACE FOR THE SCHOOL THERE ?
Those that endorse renovating schools like O'Connell, Bingham and Memorial Boulevard fail to understand the degree of renovations. As a matter of fact, "renovate" is an inept description of what needs to be done.
Massive rebuilding would better describe it. It is so massive in fact, that children will not be able to attend their schools while "renovations" take place at either Bingham, O'Connell or the Boulevard.
Three separate district boundary changes would be needed in a 4-6 year period for most of the students in the K-8 program.
If I had a child in the Bristol School system, changing schools two or more times in a 5 year period would be unacceptable.
We should also let go the notion that we have neighborhood schools. They left town when most of the Parochial Schools closed their doors years ago. Schools are required to have minority balance which is accommodated by busing students out of areas where they would normally attend.
We also have a good deal of parents being less than honest as to their actual address. They give false addresses so their children can attend better equipped schools other than their "neighborhood" school. Take a guess in which three neighborhood schools have the most abuse.
We make criminals out of parents because they want their children to attend better than what they are offered now at O'Connell, Bingham or the Boulevard.
Has anyone in City Hall (or anywhere else) planned at all for what would happen with the three schools that will be closed if the two mega-schools are built? It's easy to say that they "will be sold" for development but didn't we say that about the mall too? We will be stuck with vacant buildings that have no use. And if the City plans to use them for a municipal purpose, then what will the renovations for that cost? Where will that money come from?
Lydem is clueless!
The school administrator stated:
$130 Million to build new schools, not including new infrastructure such as sewer lines, sidewalks, road improvemnet, drainage, etc etc
$ 98 - 100 Million to completely "renovate" the existing schools.
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A "renovation" is NOT an "alteration" or an "addition" but a complete overhall.
And yes, it is cheaper as stated by Streifer.
On the contrary, there is space to house the students during the renovation process. A place where they won't be exposed to construction debris, or disturbance.
THINK
If a new Greene Hills school is to be erected next to the old Greene Hills school by using the Crowley land.
Then an extra school is created. The old school is available to house the students from any other school in the city that needs to be renovated to accomdate a K8 system.
There is no reason the Old Greene Hills school should be torn down immediately. This is complete functioning alternate school.
Since they want to bus all the students all the time, what's the big deal about busing a whole school to the spare Greene Hills school during the renovation process? All the students from the same school will still be together. This is not "redistricting".
The kids won't be separated from their friends but shall be together until such time as they return to their like-new renovated old school.
This proceedure can be done in a sequential manner until all the older schools are completely renovated.
The state funds a "complete renovation" to "like new" condition at the same rate as new construction.
Lydem? You lost me.
what does Lydem have to do with this?
Re: 10:28 Blog.
I hope you don't believe that all of the O'Connell, Bingham and Green Hills students can be accommodated at Green Hills while Bingham and O'Connell are being "renovated" and a new school is being constructed on the Crowley site.
There are barely enough classrooms for the current students on Oine Street. You think that you can triple the number? Good luck with that disaster of a plan.
Who is Lydem? Heard is is another full of talk good old boy. All talk and no action. Where is been anyway?
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