By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

A two-phase improvement project for Bartlett Elementary School and a 10-room expansion to the Glen Lake School were among the topics Goffstown school officials addressed at a recent presentation to the Capital Improvements Program Committee.

“Our plan for Bartlett is to upgrade an old, tired building so it can continue to be used as a school plant for 15 to 20 years,” Superintendent of Schools Darrell Lockwood said of the school at 689 Mast Road.

Lockwood and SAU 19 Business Administrator Raymond Labore spent about an hour presenting the capital improvement items to the CIP committee in the Mildred Stark Room of Town Hall on Thursday, June 29.

Of the six new projects on the CIP submittal, four involved carpet and tile replacement.

“Can you think of any reason why all this carpet needs to be replaced at the same time?” asked Frederick Cass, a community representative to the CIP committee.

“Maybe because it was all installed at the same time,” said budget committee representative Suzanne Tremblay.

Bartlett and Maple Avenue elementary schools were both slated for carpet and tile replacements for 2008, with the projected costs of $25,000 each.

A two-year tile/carpeting replacement project at Mountain View Middle School is expected to cost $60,000 over the course of 2008 and 2009, and tile/carpeting replacement is slated for the Goffstown High School information center for $25,000 during 2011.

The other two new projects presented were boiler replacements, each slated for 2012. A boiler replacement at Mountain View Middle School is expected to cost $120,000, with another for Maple Avenue Elementary school expected to total $40,000.

The tile and carpeting replacement plan for Bartlett comes alongside a two-phase program to improve the building overall, Lockwood said.

The two phases of upgrading Bartlett would begin in 2008, with improvements to the building’s ventilation system, its entry and exit points, and a new layout of the administrative office area. Those improvements come at a projected cost of $741,000.

The second phase of Bartlett upgrades would come in 2011 and address changes to the existing building envelope at a projected cost of $2.2 million, Labore said.

Of more immediate concern is the carpeting replacement project at Bartlett.

“The carpeting in the Bartlett School basement is old, damaged and in need of improvement,” Labore told CIP committee members. “Years of use with accumulated wear and tear, dirt and grime are noticeable.”

Labore also said an asbestos problem at Maple Avenue Elementary heightened the need to replace carpeting and tile in a section of that building.

However, Lockwood said there is only a “very, very low-level asbestos concern” at Maple Avenue.

Other long-term projects discussed at the meeting included an expansion to the Glen Lake School, slated to open its doors in October.

That project, submitted in 2004, addresses the need for a new elementary school in 2009, Labore said.

“The school district continues to anticipate a need for an additional 500-student elementary school facility,” Labore said. That project anticipates a 10-classroom addition, plus a gymnasium and auditorium for a projected cost of $13.6 million.