The Cheshire High School boys locker room project is on the Board of Education's agenda for its Thursday meeting. While scheduled as a "school showcase" meeting, the agenda now calls for the board to discuss, and possibly take action, on the stalled project.
A three hour Town Council meeting on April 26, which supporters hoped would see the $500,000 project put out to bid, ended with the council handing the item back to the board with instructions to seek additional funding through the capital budget process.
The project stalled on March 13 after the council tabled action on the bid process when it learned more money was needed to make the locker room handicapped accessible. A basic ramp would put the total cost at $512,000 according to Vincent Masciana, director of management services for Cheshire schools.
Here are comments about the council's lack of action posted on Cheshire Patch:
I was at this meeting Slocum, Schrumm & Sima made sure they continued to ask irrelevant questions about the original request for the money back in 2009! They were stalling & in doing so made sure this was yet pushed off again. If a pre-fab building is decided upon it should be ready for football season. There is no reason these kids should have to wait another season to get a proper locker room. It should be a priority for the BOE & the Council to get this project moving asap. NO MORE STALLING!
It appears that some immediate action is needed prior to the start of the academic year. How do we as concerned residents get the ball rolling? Again, I have no sons involved in sports at this time, but the right thing to do is to move forward.
Officals say the window may have closed for rennovating the locker room in time for the fall season. Public Building Commission Chairman John Purtill said at the April council meeting that the school district will likely need to prepare the existing locker room as best it can before football season starts in August.
Many parents are concerned the crowded locker room is not healthy or safe. "The deplorable condition of the locker room can no longer be ignored and we urge our officials to act expeditiously" the Cheshire Gridiron Club wrote in a newspaper ad.
