Architects offer six design options for Tisbury School building

Two architects from Flansburgh Associates outlined six design and site options for the renovation and expansion of the Tisbury School, or possibly a new building, in a PowerPoint presentation at a workshop last week. The group of about 20 people that attended the meeting in the school library included parents, school staff, members of the school advisory council and building committee, and representatives from the town's Planning Board and building and zoning department.

Voters at town meeting last spring approved spending $40,000 to fund a comprehensive facility study of the Tisbury School. The study's purpose is to determine space needs and the feasibility of reconditioning the existing building or replacing it, either on the current site or somewhere else.

The Tisbury School Committee awarded a contract for the feasibility study in late August to Flansburgh Associates, one of five architectural firms that submitted bids. The company went to work immediately to send in teams of engineering experts to assess the school building's condition before students returned, according to Principal John Custer.

In late September architects Jorge Cruz and Duncan McClelland held an initial workshop with the school staff to discuss their findings and the school's goals and vision for the future.

Based on those discussions, the architects came up with the design options that follow the guidelines of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which funds grants for capital improvement projects in the state's public schools. The design options include an additional computer room, bigger classrooms that measure 950 square feet, and a larger gym, for an increase in the existing building from 50,000 square feet to 87,000.

Because of the gym, Mr. McClelland said that figure slightly exceeds the MSBA guideline of 84,000 square feet for an enrollment of 386 students. Although the school currently has 329 students, the architects based their designs on a projected future enrollment of 386 students, using an average of projected school enrollments over the next five years from the New England School Development Council.

The reimbursement rates for MSBA-approved, eligible school construction and renovation projects range from 31 to 80 percent, based on a formula adjusted for a community's socioeconomic factors and incentive points for factors such as energy efficiency and renovation and reuse of an existing facility.

Tisbury School was built in 1929 on a town-owned parcel of about five acres on Spring Street. A gymnasium was added in 1938, and a building addition and renovation project completed in March of 1995.

Three of the architect's new design options would utilize the present school site on Spring Street. Two designs feature additions constructed on both ends of the school. The third option includes a design for a new school building, to be constructed in the area where the playing fields are now located. The old school would be demolished.

To show due diligence, the architects also came up with three options that would utilize alternative sites in Tisbury, on town-owned parcels with a minimum of 10 acres. They came up with three possibilities, Veterans Field in Vineyard Haven, and two parcels near the Manter and Tashmoo wells.

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Architects offer six design options for Tisbury School building