ORANGE — With boiler and heating issues, asbestos in the floor tiles and basement, a leaking roof and opaque windows, it was in 2006 that the state designated Dexter Park Innovation School as “Category 4,” the lowest possible ranking from the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
Today, the school is one of only nine schools in the state in this category, demonstrating a need for repair or replacement. With an architect finally chosen, that repairing or replacing is closer to becoming a reality.
This week, Raymond Design Associates was presented before the Selectboard as the company that will be performing a “feasibility study” on Orange’s two elementary school buildings, as well as other places in town that could be the site of a new school to replace Dexter Park School.
“We’re not going to limit it to the real estate you currently have. We’ll take a look at sites that might be available in town and rule them in, or rule them out,” said Dan Bradford, project architect for RDA.
The feasibility study is the first step toward a state-funded solution to Dexter Park School, which, in addition to structural problems, has become overcrowded since the Butterfield School was closed in 2015 to alleviate pressure on the town’s finances.
According to Bradford, the study will yield three options for a long-term solution — at least one option will be a new school entirely, which could be built where Dexter Park School is now or somewhere else in town, and at least one will be a major renovation. Those three will be determined by May, when RDA meets with state officials to discuss the project. In September, another meeting with the state will take place to settle on the “best” of the three options.
Finally, RDA plans on having a final schematic design and proposal in January, at which point the state will determine funding for the project.
“It’s at that point that we’ve provided enough information so that MSBA can see that that solution is the one that best satisfies the educational program requirements,” Bradford said. “That’s the one that — they’re making a huge investment as a partner in this — that they feel is a good investment, and they will be letting us know and letting you know what they will be investing.”
In the meantime, RDA and Hill International — the company that selected RDA and is overseeing the project on behalf of the town — is inviting the public to a meeting on Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. at Dexter Park School to discuss the project.
The meeting is to “hear everything we don’t know about the town of Orange, the Dexter school, run all the ideas, put them all down and create a project charter that will be the go-to document as we go through that will make us stay on track with what the town wants us to do,” said Martin Goulet of Hill International.
The funds for a feasibility study was approved by voters in January last year. The study comes with a 79.5 percent state reimbursement — at an estimated cost of $875,000. Orange will have to pay $179,375. A cost of the actual project won’t be known until its decided where and what is being renovated, demolished, rebuilt or built. According to Dexter Park School Building Committee Chairman Bruce Scherer, the town vote on the actual project is estimated to happen at the Annual Town Meeting in June of 2020.
Scherer, Bradford and Goulet have pledged to keep the public updated on the process, including setting up a Facebook page with information about project progress. The link to this page, “Dexter Park Improvements,” can be found on the town’s website.
A document from Hill International titled “Feasibility study and design priorities” lists several specific goals for the project, including relieving overcrowding; providing a modernized “21st century school” in place of Dexter Park School’s current 1955 design; adding security features including closed-circuit television surveillance; creating a building with easy access to information technology systems and incorporating green technologies and sustainability into the design.
“The input from the community cannot be downplayed. We will be seeking venues so that we can reach as many people who are and should be interested in the project,” Bradford said. “Whether it’s good news, bad news, we want the input for making this a school for the town of Orange.”
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.