On Town Meeting Day, March 3, one of the issues Orwell voters will decide is whether to approve a nearly $60 million bond to renovate the Orwell Village School. The project would deck the school out with a new addition, including a cafeteria and a gym.
The problem is, the expansion could mean saying goodbye to the adjacent 179-year-old town hall that overlooks the village green.
Addison County Independent reporter John Flowers has been covering this issue, and spoke about it with VPR's Mitch Wertlieb. Their interview is below. It has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Mitch Wertlieb: First, give us an idea of the Orwell town hall's significance to the town.
John Flowers: It has served the town pretty well during the past almost 180 years. It was originally built as a church, came under town ownership, and then in 1961, it was conveyed for the nominal sum of $1 to the school district.
It has fallen into disrepair. The town hasn't invested a lot of money into its upkeep. It does not have a lot of structural deficiencies. But its shortcomings currently include a subpar heating system, antiquated electrical wiring, insufficient access for people with disabilities, then certainly the restroom situation could be improved. The town seems to be fairly split in terms of whether it should be kept or not kept. School officials that I spoke with indicated a willingness to convey the property back to the town, then it would be the town's decision on what to do with the structure.
Well, if the building was knocked down to make way for some of these additions to the school, what would go in place of the town hall?
Right now they're talking about expanded parking. The prospect of additional blacktop where an historic building once stood is not sitting well with some Orwell residents. They would just as soon see money invested in expanding the town hall in a way that would respect the architectural integrity of the structure.
I understand there's a petition to try and save the town hall. What can you tell us about that?
It's advisory in nature. A group of residents has placed it at local stores, you know, just hoping to sway officials with a broad statement of a public opinion that the buildings should be saved, and that the school space needs should be accommodated within the town hall.
I'm curious about the question itself, because it doesn't necessarily mean that if the bond passes, the town hall gets knocked down. There could be a scenario in which the bond passes and the town hall remains. Is that right?
Yes. School officials deliberately made the question open-ended, or somewhat ambiguous in terms of the Orwell situation. The priority now is to get that $59.5 million bond passed in the Slate Valley Unified Union School District. The majority of that money will be used to improve Fairhaven Union High School and build a new middle school on Fair Haven Union High School grounds. But the question is worded in such a way that could give planners and architects the leeway to solve the space needs more creatively if need be.
How is the bond issue itself playing among Orwell residents?
Well, certainly it is a tough uphill climb when you're talking about almost $60 million. I happen to live in Bristol, and the five-town area there has been considering a Mount Abraham Union High School improvement plan of half that amount. And that proposal has failed on a couple of occasions. And the board has been trying to pare it down.
With property taxes the way they are, with declining enrollment, I'd have to say it's somewhat of an uphill climb. But the Slate Valley board is certainly making a spirited public information campaign, arguing that school improvements are long overdue, that a new middle school would serve the students better. And they're hoping that it passes. Certainly when you have a bond like this, you can expect the polls to be a little more active than they are on a typical Town Meeting Day.
