By Devon Cormier
Staff Writer

The headmaster of Mount Zion Christian School, Homer Allen, said the nondenominational school will remain in Bedford for another school year. Allen said he is more than pleased because the extra year will buy him time to get approval to build a new school in Auburn and continue raising money toward the $7 million cost of the new school.

The land on South River Road that the school now sits on was slated to make way for an airport connector road this year. However, the demolition date has been pushed back to June of 2006 and Mount Zion has permission to continue in Bedford until then.

“We have been given permission to stay for another year, and after that we look forward to moving to Auburn,” said Allen. “My feeling is that we’re happy to work with the town of Auburn to overcome any of their reservations.”

Allen said he knew the Bedford site was slated for demolition and that Mount Zion’s stay would only be temporary. Mount Zion has already grown so much it is considering waiting lists for some of the grades, Allen said. The school accommodates grades K-12, and the proposed Auburn building would be able to at least 450 students, more than double the capacity of the Bedford site, the former Faith Christian Academy.

Allen said he has signed a purchase-and-sale agreement for land at Auburn’s Wellington Business Park on Dartmouth Drive near the Manchester line. The agreement would secure a 20-acre parcel of land if Allen can win approval from the Auburn Planning Board to go ahead with the proposal for a 65,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art building.

However, that may not come easily. The land is zoned for industrial use, although a 2002 zoning amendment allows private schools to be built in the park. The amendment was meant to allow daycare facilities to serve industrial park employees, but not an entire high school, according to planning board member Stoney Worster.

“The land is zoned for a private school,” Allen said. “And we look forward to going to a site where we’re welcome. We would be an asset to Auburn.”

Whether planning board members agree or not will become clear as Mount Zion returns to the planning board in the coming months. Regardless, Allen said he is very pleased that the school needn’t search for another temporary home. From the beginning Allen had planned on moving to Auburn, if granted approval, in September 2006. In the meantime he hoped to find another temporary site for the school.

“We have until July 2006 to leave and we’ll take them up on it since we’re looking for a place anyway,” said Allen.