BAR HARBOR - Trouble always seems to find this town. A member of the Town Council said to me last week, “This council is spent …” in reference to its legal entanglement over cruise ships.The Quietside Journal is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Rebuild Connors, fix up Emerson, save money. The facts are both buildings could easily be retrofit to modern standards if we had #1 housing and #2 roads that can handle the traffic. It's expensive living here, as any coastal vacation destination is.
My class was the first to go through our entire school years K-5 at Conner's School then at the old Emerson for 6-8. Actually, one classroom of 5th graders had to go to Emerson as there was no room for all of us at Conners. Conner's opened in February 1953 and our class was the largest ever, 99 students. We had 63 graduates from Bar Harbor High School: some moved from town and others simply didn't finish, sadly. The school is 71 years old this year so perhaps it's time to be replaced, or consolidated with other island towns. Even when it was built, the Quonset-hut-style cafeteria/gym was not adequate for either purpose, although Encyclopedia Britannica pictured it as an excellent example of modern school construction.
There is nothing new about initial estimated costs being hopelessly optimistic only to have final costs go through the proverbial roof. Consulting companies have been using this tactic for decades. Suck the client in with a low ball estimate and then when it's too late to back out jack up the price. If memory serves a sewer treatment plant expansion that was estimated at something like $5,000,000 eventually wound up costing something like $7,000,000 a decade or two ago.
Here's a plan; devilish the details .Mt. Desert's ex high school building becomes the regional middle school, raze the Connors Emerson site. Developed it's worth millions or spend millions and create another village green type space that's a vastly different from rugged outdoors Acadia and MDI offer. Selling the site is win. It funds whatever renovations the Mt. Desert facility needs and the taxpayers get a much needed break saving tens of millions eases the taxpayer burden. Not selling it is a better win. Of the tax rolls the taxpayers fund a much needed haven for future generations, it's called a legacy. Speaking of legacies, ANP was left for us! Paying not paving it forward is what MDI deserves and the very right thing to do.
Dilly dallying? If this is not a signal to consolidate, I am not sure what is. If there are 350 students and the school lasts 30 years, $58M over that time, that comes down to $5500 per student per year. Just for a facility to go to! Pretty outrageous. The people of this town need to get their heads out of the clouds and join the rest of the free world with a bit of sacrifice and allow their children to travel a bit to go to school. You can always home school if you don't like it. And Ms. Peacock needs to get a dose of reality on this subject as well.
MDI has too many schools
People need to stop making emotional decisions. Consolidation is necessary.
Rebuild Connors, fix up Emerson, save money. The facts are both buildings could easily be retrofit to modern standards if we had #1 housing and #2 roads that can handle the traffic. It's expensive living here, as any coastal vacation destination is.
My class was the first to go through our entire school years K-5 at Conner's School then at the old Emerson for 6-8. Actually, one classroom of 5th graders had to go to Emerson as there was no room for all of us at Conners. Conner's opened in February 1953 and our class was the largest ever, 99 students. We had 63 graduates from Bar Harbor High School: some moved from town and others simply didn't finish, sadly. The school is 71 years old this year so perhaps it's time to be replaced, or consolidated with other island towns. Even when it was built, the Quonset-hut-style cafeteria/gym was not adequate for either purpose, although Encyclopedia Britannica pictured it as an excellent example of modern school construction.
There is nothing new about initial estimated costs being hopelessly optimistic only to have final costs go through the proverbial roof. Consulting companies have been using this tactic for decades. Suck the client in with a low ball estimate and then when it's too late to back out jack up the price. If memory serves a sewer treatment plant expansion that was estimated at something like $5,000,000 eventually wound up costing something like $7,000,000 a decade or two ago.
$3 million for preliminary consulting. Yowza!! Clearly I was in the wrong business (software).
Here's a plan; devilish the details .Mt. Desert's ex high school building becomes the regional middle school, raze the Connors Emerson site. Developed it's worth millions or spend millions and create another village green type space that's a vastly different from rugged outdoors Acadia and MDI offer. Selling the site is win. It funds whatever renovations the Mt. Desert facility needs and the taxpayers get a much needed break saving tens of millions eases the taxpayer burden. Not selling it is a better win. Of the tax rolls the taxpayers fund a much needed haven for future generations, it's called a legacy. Speaking of legacies, ANP was left for us! Paying not paving it forward is what MDI deserves and the very right thing to do.
Just make a decision, construction will not get cheaper the longer you wait! Dilly-dallying has been very expensive.
Prices are going down all around, they just need new bids with an offer for housing.
Let's hope that's true.
Dilly dallying? If this is not a signal to consolidate, I am not sure what is. If there are 350 students and the school lasts 30 years, $58M over that time, that comes down to $5500 per student per year. Just for a facility to go to! Pretty outrageous. The people of this town need to get their heads out of the clouds and join the rest of the free world with a bit of sacrifice and allow their children to travel a bit to go to school. You can always home school if you don't like it. And Ms. Peacock needs to get a dose of reality on this subject as well.
I just want a decision - for one solution or the other.