Residents get First Look at New Vinson-Owen School

Just three weeks after the Massachusetts School Building Association (MSBA) gave their approval of the Vinson-Owen design did Winchester residents get to view the first set of plans for the new school building.

Tuesday night the Educational Facilities Planning and Building Committee (EFPBC) along with Tappe Associates unveiled their first model of the proposed Vinson-Owen School. The pubic session was the third of four such meetings regarding the plan.

The final public hearing will be held in September.

Architect and planner of the project, Brooke Trivas, held up the design model and explained the layout to the crowd.

The building sits beside the hill with the entry along Johnson Road. As students enter the building along the pedestrian walkway, the administrative offices will be to the right with the gymnasium/auditorium directly across from the main office.

The kindergarten and first grade classrooms will be located on the first floor, only on one side of the hallway – the side facing Johnson Road. And the cafeteria will sit in the corner of the building, next to the main office and close to the green space in front of the building. Across from that will be the music room.

"The cafeteria will be a stones-throw away from the administration," Trivas said. "The administration really stressed the importance of having the gymnasium and cafeteria close. And they're right next to the green space outside. The cafeteria's as close as any one may be."

The second floor will have a similar layout, except with more special education classrooms, and it will have classrooms on both sides of the hallway. The third floor will hold only classes, and will be on one side of the hallway.

A concern that was brought up by Dave Anderson of the Design Review Committee, as well as a few other members of the community was if the new building would keep some of the current school's unique features. Superintendent William McAlduff felt confident that it would.

"The barn doors are an important part of the building and we're going to try and maintain that," McAlduff said. "We're going to try and keep as much natural light as possible and maintain the science park. And the back-field, that's a spot where, for years, has been taken up by portable classrooms. There are a lot of new ideas of what we can do in the back."

While the majority of the citizens in attendance were excited about what they saw, there was a concern raised at the end of the meeting regarding air-conditioning.

Co-Chairmen of the Energy Management Committee Bill Swanton expressed his preference to not install a unit in the building. He said that it could cost the town around $50,000 more a year to run a unit. He also explained that with open windows, a good natural ventilation system, along with some other greener ideas, the school does not need an AC to keep cool.

"Overall the building looks good," Swanton said. "I'm just making sure the building is cost-efficient to run the next 50 years. It's easy to add facilities like air-conditioning, but things like that drive up the cost. We have to think of this as a 50 – 75 year investment."

Parent reaction to classrooms with no AC was mixed, as some understand the reasoning behind the idea, while others questioned its potential negative impact on the learning that goes on in the classroom.

"I've seen a child sweltering, and they all hover around the box fans trying to learn," said Donna Ashton who has children at the school. "Children learning is the most important objective. And that's where I would want my tax money going; to make sure the kids in the classroom are learning."

McAlduff and Robert Deering, member of the EFPBC, did say that air-conditioning is still a possibility at the school. At the very least, according to Deering, the library, computer lab and administrative office will have the use of AC. A final decision has yet to be made.

However, Deering explained, that even if the school gets air-conditioning, the town has a contract where they are not allowed to go past a certain amount of energy in a year, and that may require not using AC in the school anyway.

But as the parents filed out of the Vinson-Owen auditorium, many were excited and pleased out what the future building could look like.

"This is real impressive," said Diane Hestenberg who has a nine-year-old in the school and a two-year-old who will eventually attend VO. "It's not like I was expecting anything less, but this looks really good. I love the look of the building. It maintains a lot of the style of the old VO. It's really awesomely done."