Parkman Road school to be on wetlands site

The Parkman Road site is next to the Neil Armstrong exhibit.
BY AMANDA GARRETT
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The school district will build a new kindergarten-through-eighth-grade facility on a wetlands site because there are no viable alternatives, board members say.
To proceed with the construction, the board approved a wetlands mitigation agreement during a special board meeting Thursday.
The site, known as the Parkman Road site, is on U.S. Route 422 next to the Neil Armstrong exhibit.
The property contains man-made wetlands that will have to be drained and treated, board member Linda H. Metzendorf said.
The site was the only viable alternative in the northwest quadrant, board President Robert L. Faulkner Sr., said.
"We are aware that the wetlands delineation project will take some extra effort and time, but the board remains committed to the Parkman Road site," he said. "There is certainly substantial acreage available on the site to accommodate the size of the building, and the location is ideal."
Fulfilling a promise
When the school district undertook the construction project, the board promised to build a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school in every quadrant of the city. The only way they could fulfill this promise in the northwest quadrant was to build at the Parkman Road site, Faulkner said.
The board gave serious consideration to the current McGuffey School site, but after conducting geotechnical and wetland delineation studies, they determined that the site wasn't feasible.
Also, the board considered other school sites owned by the district, but would have had to buy numerous surrounding residential properties, and the board was not comfortable with displacing families.
"We went around with a Realtor, but there virtually isn't anything there," board Vice President Edward Bolino said about available property in the Northwest quadrant. "This site allows us to put a school there, as we told the taxpayers."
Metzendorf agreed.
"It's the best site," she said. "A lot of students will be able to walk to school and there will be a brand new building on a main highway."
The new school will add to the city's attempts to revitalize the northwest quadrant, Faulkner said.
"This will be something everybody can be proud of," he said. "This is going to be a fabulous facility."
Citywide project
The new school is part of an $153 million project co-funded by the district and the Ohio School Facilities Commission. The project consists of a new Warren G. Harding High School, and four new kindergarten-through-eighth-grade facilities, one in each quadrant of the city.
Construction for the Parkman Road school is scheduled to begin in 2007 and be completed by 2009.
Finding the last piece of property felt like "finding the last piece of the puzzle," Superintendent Kathryn Hellweg said. She added jokingly that the board still has one crucial decision to make about the new schools.
"Now you have to figure out what to name them," she said.
agarrett@vindy.com