Wednesday, August 25, 1999
Schools opt to build new rather than renovate old
BY CHRISTINE WOLFF
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MONTGOMERY — The Sycamore school board has a tentative agreement to spend $2.7 million to buy land for a school to replace aging Montgomery Elementary.
It's the board's second try to buy land and again brings up opposition from some residents who want the 50-year-old school renovated.
The board likely will complete the purchase at its Sept. 1 meeting, Superintendent Bruce Armstrong said.
The 18.2 acres — costing $150,000 an acre — are in Indian Hill, east of Montgomery Road at Schoolhouse Lane. The land is owned by Emery Brothers Limited Partnership, which also owned 16 acres at Hopewell and Montgomery roads that the board tried to buy in 1998. The sides couldn't agree on a price.
“We can put up a state-of-the-art school and have more room for community use of fields and playgrounds,” Mr. Armstrong said. “And we'll be able to place students out of harm's way from busy Montgomery Road.”
The board decided in March not to renovate Montgomery Elementary, which is squeezed on six acres close to Montgomery Road. New estimates from architects had put the renovation at $8.6 million, while a school could be built for $9 million.
The cost of a new building would be cut, too, by sale of the old school and land, Mr. Armstrong said.
If the land is bought, the school board would have to petition the Ohio Department of Education to bring it into the Sycamore school district. The board also would ask Montgomery officials to provide an access road.
There are a lot of hurdles before the school can be built, said Janeanne Archiable, a Montgomery councilwoman who favors renovation.
“I'll believe it all when it's done,” she said.
Ms. Archiable agrees with some district residents who say the board misled them in November 1998 when it persuaded voters to pass a $45 million bond issue. They were told, residents said, that part of the bond money would renovate Montgomery Elementary, not build a school.
“I think voters gave the school board support with the understanding (the school) would stay where it was,” said Fred Melcher, who lives near Montgomery Elementary. “I want it to stay a school.”
Voters passed the 2.39-mill bond issue for construction and improvements to all seven Sycamore schools. Mr. Armstrong said the ballot language allowed the board to build or renovate.
Doing anything but building a school would be fiscally irresponsible, said David Pelfrey of Symmes Township, who has two children at Montgomery Elementary.
He started a residents group called FANS (For A New School). A FANS survey last school year showed most Montgomery Elementary parents and staff wanted a new building, Mr. Pelfrey said.
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