Sam Gurwitt Photo
At the Dunbar Hill School.
While Hamden sifts through the changing sands of its foiled West Woods School reconstruction project, the town is now looking into another urgent fix to keep water off of kids’ heads: at the Dunbar Hill School.
The Board of Education (BOE)’s Operations Committee voted Tuesday evening to direct the full board to look into crafting a grant application for a new $1.7 million roof at Dunbar Hill.
In a recent study, the Garland Company, Inc. found that the roof is nearing the end of its days. According to district Director of Facilities John Cross, the firm found that the roof’s condition is comparable to the roof at West Woods — that is, bad.
In November, the state pulled a $15 million grant for the construction of a new West Woods School because the town missed its two-year deadline to begin construction. The school has had problems with leaky floors and ceilings for years, and both parents and school officials say renovations cannot wait any longer. Town officials are scrambling to find another solution that will fix the building’s problems as fast as possible using state money. The town is also in the process of renovating the Alice Peck School, which is slated for completion by August, and is gearing up to begin the addition of a new wing at the middle school.
Now, Dunbar Hill is in the mix. Cross said he noticed about a year ago that the roof at Dunbar Hill was in bad shape. School roofs generally need to be replaced after 20 years, he said, and the roof at Dunbar Hill has made more than 20 laps around the sun. He said the roof is beginning to crack and peel in places, and water is leaking into the building.
Every municipality in Connecticut gets a different rate of state reimbursement on school construction projects, based on per-capita wealth. Hamden, with relatively low per-capita wealth, gets a reimbursement rate of almost 68 percent. That means that if the state approves the Dunbar Hill roof replacement, the state would pay $1.16 million, while Hamden would foot the other $550,000. The project would also involve replacing the gym windows, which sit just below the roof and must be replaced with it.
Last year, the board designated Dunbar Hill as one of two schools to receive a building-wide renovation as a part of the district’s “3R Initiative.” The 3R Initiative is a districtwide restructuring plan that will close two schools, turn some schools into intra-district magnets, bring sixth graders to the middle school, and introduce universal pre‑K in Hamden. In its planning phase this spring, the board designated Dunbar Hill as a possible STEM magnet that would have involved a $17 million renovation (read more here and here). While the Hamden Legislative Council approved the rest of the 3R Initiative, it declined to bond for the Dunbar Hill renovation.
Committee Member Walter Morton (pictured) said that rather than applying to renovate just the roof, the town should dust off its original full renovation plans for the school and try again. In the last few years, the state has put pressure on districts to assess all of their needs at once and then apply for grants that would address those needs together. Hamden has developed a tendency, recognized among its council members, to do piecemeal renovations and not remain on top of its building renovations, he said. Why not try the comprehensive approach again, if more repairs are coming down the line, and show that the town is on top of its building projects?
Committee Chair Chris Daur said that at this point, the roof renovation cannot wait. The town cannot afford to tie the fate of urgent roof repairs to a grant that may or may not come through, which might also take too long to secure even if the ton is successful. Other renovations can follow a roof repair, but the building needs a roof first and foremost.
Cross agreed. “From a facilities standpoint, I can’t rely on” the state approving a building-wide renovation grant. “I have to have a good roof.”
Ultimately, Daur’s viewpoint won out, with new Committee Member Gary Walsh casting the decisive “yes” vote.
The roof repair project must now be approved by the full board. If the board approves it, it must go to the School Building Committee, then the council, and finally to the state. Daur said the town should aim to replace the roof this summer.