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Laura Hood Beckman, Annandale
Apr 8, 2008
I am reminded every day why the Annandale area is such a
wonderful place to live and raise a family. This
community is rich in volunteerism, willing citizens that
work hard to make this a great place to live, learn and
grow. I was honored to be asked to serve on the school
district's 2007 Facilities
Task Force. I know there were many people willing
to sit on this group and so feel fortunate that I was
asked. Myself and a dozen other area citizens, school
district teachers and administrators including two
school board members spent the last six months reviewing
a lot of information. I learned many things about our
school facilities, what constitutes good learning space,
what are ideal school sizes to provide maximum
successful learning and recommended standards from our
State Department of Education. Our group had the
opportunity to review information from Wold Architects
regarding building needs, costs and a few potential
design scenarios. Our
job was to review the work of the last Facilities
Task Force to determine if their findings were
current for today. A number of things had changed
including concerns with the 1922 building, which is the
three-story structure that is currently being used as
part of our middle school. As someone that believes in
recycling and great architectural design, I was thrilled
to find out first and foremost that it is possible to
renovate the building so that it can continue to be used
for academic purposes. We had been told at the start of
our meetings and prior that the building had so many
fire and building code violations that it could not be
repaired. However, when a building inspector and
representative of the State Fire Marshal toured the
facility last fall both indicated that many needed
maintenance items could be addressed without having to
upgrade to some of the current new construction
requirements. Touring the building, we had the
opportunity to see the spacious classrooms, fantastic
natural lighting and architectural detailing that we
could never afford to duplicate today in a new building.
Although neglected, this building today is still within
reason to renovate and continue to serve our community
another 80 years. We also discussed the possibility of
having a private party purchase the 1922 building.
Unfortunately the legalities of having a private party
utilize a building that is attached to a functioning
school is not likely. Another issue that was raised was
the land size of the middle school site. In today's
standards it is small, however, like many schools in
small towns and urban areas the school continues to
function well. All schools in our district are
landlocked; and that happens eventually with any new
site construction. The group was varied in opinions and
priorities with not only the 1922 building but also
other school district needs. There are many ways to
achieve the same goal, that being great learning
facilities for our students and teachers. I commend all
that spent time on this effort and gave of their time
and viewpoints. At some point the group needed to close.
Over the course of the six months we reviewed a variety
of scenarios with many other variations not explored,
however the group could not go on forever. At what ended
up to be our last meeting we were provided a new
proposal draft that included adopting a long-range plan
to begin to abandon the current middle school site by
demolishing the 1922 building. The majority of the group
approved this recommendation that will be presented to
the school board on April 28. One of my concerns with
this plan is that it commits taxpayers to purchasing
land and building a new middle school in the future. The
location would be farther out of the heart of town. Many
people find the location of the middle school ideal as
the children can walk to the public library or downtown
to have something to eat after school or an activity. It
is a convenient location for parents as well as they are
able to run errands downtown while they wait for their
children. Many of the churches are within a reasonable
and safe walking distance for many kids that have church
school on Wednesdays. The school's present location is
very favorable with current community design trends that
promote safety, walkability, health and a sense of
neighborhood. The cost to build the 1922 building was
$140,000. Over 84 years that is $1,666 per year. With
the proper repair and maintenance we can enjoy another
84 years. I hope our other facilities can provide that
type of return on our taxpayer investment. As a
task force we were only a small group of people,
recognizing there are many citizens with ideas, concerns
and opinions. It will be up to the school board to
decide how to best move forward. I sincerely hope the
school board members decide to keep the middle school in
its current location.
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