Article 6 is a wakeup call to Longmeadow residents signed by over 300 citizens who agree that the current Williams Middle School site is the wrong location. At the Nov. 12 Town Meeting, voters will get to decide whether they support a new consolidated middle school to be built on the current (WMS) property site despite some major disadvantages which threaten long term consequences for the town.
The Middle School Building Committee has provided numerous charts to support building at this site with comparisons to other sites in Longmeadow (Turner Park, Academy Drive, Glenbrook Middle School etc.) and rated some of the other sites equal to that of the WMS site with the exception of the fact that the WMS site is centrally located.
The central location has a convenience factor, along with many concerning disadvantages. The consolidated middle school will have an estimated enrollment of approximately 700 students and is projected to have 250 or more cars entering and exiting the school during peak drop off and pick up times. Two traffic studies have been completed, the first resulting in a failure grade. Results from the second study are not in. Both traffic studies were conducted on beautiful days and could not account for traffic increases on rainy days, or inclement weather. Results point to pedestrian and motorist dangers. There is already a significant amount of traffic from the high school and Blueberry Elementary School. Although the town is proposing building a third lane on Williams Street (and possibly on Bliss Road) to ease traffic to the middle school, this solution (which is not included in the budget) will not solve the traffic congestion and will impact the character of the town and property values.
The current site is much smaller than other proposed sites (ie., Glenbrook has 5 more acres). In this context it seems like the architects are squeezing a large building onto a narrow lot. The proposed building has one base rectangle which has a curved spine from which four rectangles protrude in a blunted fan shape. This rather awkward design has been created to adapt to the narrow east- west orientation of the site. The main entrance does not face the Williams Street side of the road; it faces the east on a side street and has an insufficient buffer to the abutting properties. The design calls for approximately 20 plus sides/walls which will be very costly in terms of labor and materials (as opposed to most buildings that have only four sides), with the right to expand in the future. The playing fields will be dwarfed by the school, parking and roads. Playing fields for students during the two-year construction period will not exist and when the school is completed, they will be significantly reduced from three sports fields to one.
More than 60 trees will be felled during construction. Beautiful trees gracing Williams Street will be a thing of the past. Loss of these valuable trees threatens to increase surface run off which can cause flooding and can be carcinogenic. Other concerns include CO2 emissions, and zoning laws which are being violated.
A vote of no on Article 6 is challenging the MSBC to consider a site that will truly fit the needs of the community. Article 6 supports the building of a new school and continued expenditure of funds for the further planning and design of a school. The thrust of Article 6 is to state: this is the wrong location. Vote no.
Irene Loukellis
Longmeadow
