Guest Commentary to Arlington Advocate:

Recently it was stated that the AHS Building Committee has changed the high school rebuild project enough to call it a good compromise. This is not the case. The 'compromise' seems to be putting in an odd set of columns on the SIDE of the campus, while still taking about 2/3rds of the lawn. There is still no good solution for the traffic mess caused by flipping the school around front to back. The soccer fields are still quietly turned into DPW parking.

Here are the main reasons to change the AHS plan, or to oppose it if we are forced to vote on the current plan:

1. The latest AHS plan will still destroy the historic ‘state house’ facade. Some new 'columns' have been proposed for the SIDE of the building or as relics in front of a new structure. The Collomb and Fusco buildings are now listed as historic and have been designated "Most Endangered Historic Resources" at the state level.

2. The current plan still removes the memorial lawn and trees that we have owned and enjoyed for almost 100 years. This project increases the process of teardown and urbanization that our town has been already experiencing as our remaining lawns, backyards, trees and open sky are under threat.

3. The plan still unnecessarily creates a traffic mess by making the back of the school the new entrance, removing the existing drop-off loop. New two lane, two way roads will bring all vehicular drop-off traffic to Mill Street, with the likely extension of a road to Grove Street. New traffic lights at Mill and Grove streets will be unable to stop gridlock at prime drop off times. The current plan will alter Arlington Center’s traffic much to the worse.

You may have heard that “public comments should have been made earlier” or that “we have no other alternative". This isn’t true either. This summer the AHS project was voted on by the AHS Building Committee and then almost immediately sent to the Mass School Building Authority. There was no reasonable period for the public to comment on their decision. A vote of 16 people decided that our historic buildings and open space would be destroyed, that the cost would be $308M or about $800 per house, and the town would be locked into HMFH architects. The Building Committee’s own surveys showed that a large portion of Arlington wants to preserve the historic buildings and lawn. Traffic wasn’t even part of the public survey.

The decision to knock AHS down and remove the lawn is at odds with the historically aware decisions that you can see almost everywhere else in Arlington: The Library, the Town Hall, the Schwamb Mill, The fire houses, the Town Gardens and recently, under a different architect, the Gibbs Middle School.

What happens if a NO vote on the current project occurs? We already have large town-wide financial commitments coming in the next year(s). There is already a large project to rebuild the DPW and we will need to ask the voters for a (Prop 2 ½) tax override next year. Putting off the AHS project, if it still attempts to remove the lawn and tear down the historic buildings, would give us time to make it better and to discuss and approve these other projects.

As a town, we could revisit the AHS project in a better submission to the MSBA either within the 3 month window or after the override and DPW costs are well behind us. In addition to the above points, a revised plan might change architects, remove up to $70M non-school related uses to increase MSBA funding, and find a way to perform the project at a lower cost. In any case, the town will make school repairs to maintain our children’s’ learning environment.

The Building Committee should move the project to behind the current facades, lawn and drop off loop, but if they won’t fix their plan, Arlington has alternatives - repair what we have and rethink the project with a different team. We do need a new school, but we don’t want to regret it. Furthermore we need and deserve better input and comment AFTER what any building committee decides on the largest financial project in Arlington’s history. We still live in a democracy and a society where taxation comes with representation.

Please contact the members of Selectboard and the Town Manager at 781-316-3000. With our voices, the town will listen. If we’re silent, the plan will not compromise enough to save facades, lawn and your traffic. You can also make your voice heard by signing the petition at www.sohahs.us to only build a new AHS behind the facades.

Carl Wagner

Save Our Historic Arlington High School