City, schools could pick preschool site soon

A conceptual site plan for a new preschool at Elm Grove Park on East Tennessee Avenue in east Oak Ridge. Officials said the plan would keep the park and the walking trail. (Image courtesy Studio Four Design/City of Oak Ridge)

Oak Ridge municipal and school officials could start selecting a site for the new preschool as early as this month. There are two options being considered: Elm Grove Park and Scarboro Community Center.

Financing for the project, which would include bonds, could be included in the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

In the meantime, a petition drive has been started to oppose building the preschool at Elm Grove Park.

The park had previously been announced as the preferred site for the new preschool, which has been on the city’s wish list for many years. Elm Grove Park is a city-owned parcel in east Oak Ridge off East Tennessee Avenue. It’s the site of a former school, it’s relatively flat, and it has city-owned utilities. Also, there aren’t many obstacles that would affect construction, and site borings have already been done, city officials said last week.

But a day care center at Scarboro Community Center recently closed, and city officials are now also considering adding on to that city-owned building off Carver Avenue.

The two sites were discussed at a joint work session between the Oak Ridge Board of Education and Oak Ridge City Council on Thursday, January 26. Conceptual site plans and public safety statistics were presented to the two boards.

Studio Four Design, which presented the conceptual site plans, was asked to come back with more information about the two sites—an “apples to apples” comparison—at the February 27 school board meeting. The BOE could act at that meeting, and the City Council could take action during a March 13 meeting. The additional information could include rough cost estimates.

“I think the Council is ready to make a decision, and the Board of Education is ready to make a decision,” Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said this Thursday.

It’s not clear yet, though, if the city will be able to test the soil at the Scarboro Community Center in the next few weeks. The soil has already been tested at Elm Grove Park, but an engineer will now have to be hired to test it at Scarboro Community Center as well, said Pat Fallon, operations manager in the Oak Ridge Public Works Department.

Meanwhile, Studio Four Design is expected to meet with preschool staff to discuss requirements for the preschool, including requirements for the federal Head Start program.

Those who oppose building at Elm Grove Park said most residents support the preschool program and would like to see its future assured, but they think the park is an inappropriate location.

“Such a building would destroy one of our city’s great assets: a lovely neighborhood park used by people of all ages and in all seasons,” said the petition, which had been signed by 159 people by early Thursday afternoon, February 2.

Plans call for the new preschool to have 20 rooms, and possibly allow for expansion. The classrooms could be about 1,000 square feet each, and there would be boys’ and girls’ bathrooms for every two classrooms, Watson said.

Watson said there are about 180 children at the Oak Ridge Schools Preschool, including Head Start students, and they are spread out across town. The Scarboro Community Center could be somewhat more centrally located than Elm Grove Park, he said.

The use of the preschool by students can’t be co-mingled with other uses. The Elm Grove Park proposal would keep the existing park, including a walking trail, while also keeping the school secure, Watson said.

The Scarboro Community Center was built with federal Community Development Block Grant funds, and there is no debt on the building, Watson said. It already has a gymnasium, a cafeteria, offices, multi-purpose rooms, and smaller rooms, and there is a playground across the street, city officials said. But additional classrooms and administrative and staff space would be added.

The center is used lightly during the day, according to Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department director.

Asked about public safety, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said Elm Grove Park has people walking around all the time, and the Scarboro Community Center might be easier to secure. But there is a lot of fire department activity at apartments near the Scarboro Community Center, Kerley said.

Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said public safety statistics are roughly equal at Elm Grove Park and Scarboro Community Center, although there are some differences, including in the “hot spots” for peak days and times for calls for service.

Here is a summary of a site comparison presented by Akagi and compiled by ORPD Crime Analyst David Gordon. The analysis includes the current preschool location at the School Administration Building on New York Avenue.

See the complete Oak Ridge Police Department presentation on public safety statistics at Elm Grove Park and Scarboro Community Center here.

As they look for a home for a new preschool, Oak Ridge Schools have “a pass” from federal Head Start officials that is related to a lead paint issue at the current preschool.

But, “that’s not a forever pass,” Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said.

City and school officials suggested it’s time to act, a year-and-a-half after the October 2015 preschool report was accepted.

“We’ve been kicking this can for a while,” Oak Ridge City Council member Chuck Hope said. “We’ve got to, as a Council and a Board of Education, make a decision.”

He said there is limited room for expansion at Elm Grove Park and more room for expansion at Scarboro Community Center, with a lot of potential there.

Oak Ridge Board of Education member Angi Agle went to a “city blueprint” meeting at the Grove Theater last Thursday, just before the joint work session with City Council, and several people asked her about the preschool and wanted to know “what’s the holdup.” A suggested timeline in the October 2015 report by the Joint City/Schools Preschool Planning Committee said construction could take 14 months and be complete by September 2017.

“The public is ready for this to start,” Agle said.

A conceptual site plan for a new preschool added on to the Scarboro Community Center on Carver Avenue in central Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy Studio Four Design/City of Oak Ridge)

One other question briefly mentioned at the work session last week was the possible impact on the preschool, if it’s located in Scarboro, of the proposed new U.S. Department of Energy landfill over the ridge on Bear Creek Road, west of the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Watson said the city could have a budget placeholder of about $10 million for the new preschool in the next budget to be considered by City Council. The final amount could vary, he said. The city doesn’t have the cash on hand and will need a financial plan. With the help of bond adviser Cumberland Securities, financing information could be included in the municipal budget that goes into effect July 1, Watson said.

Other next steps could include preliminary designs and design costs.

The Joint City/Schools Preschool Planning Committee that presented the preschool report in October 2015 has previously estimated that a new 40,000-square-foot preschool could cost $6.3 million to build, although that rough estimate is now about 1.5 years old.

In October 2015, the committee said there would be an additional $1.2 million in expenses for infrastructure, architects, and other fees, and an in-depth analysis by design and construction firms, pushing the total to $7.5 million.

Some residents continue to point to Pinewood Park in central Oak Ridge as a possible home for the preschool. But city officials have presented a few reasons that the park can’t be used, including deed restrictions and grants that require the park to be maintained “in perpetuity.” A proposal to build the preschool at the park would require additional approvals, and the park would have to be moved and re-installed, Watson said.

The Joint City/Schools Preschool Planning Committee also considered Pinewood Park in central Oak Ridge, but didn’t recommend it. (The committee also considered the site of the former Ridge Greenhouse in west Oak Ridge.)

Oak Ridge Schools started its preschool program in 1965. Federal Head Start funds were added in 1970 to provide for a full school year program.

The Preschool has been relocated four times. Officials say the current home of the Preschool, which is on New York Avenue in central Oak Ridge, was built as a temporary structure about 70 years ago during World War II. That building also houses the School Administration Building.

The Preschool once had 14 classrooms but, as of October 2015, it had 11 on site, with one additional classroom at Woodland Elementary School.

At that time, there were 192 students at the preschool, with 55 on a waiting list. Of the 192 students in the Preschool then, 168 were children living in poverty, the committee report said.

Officials said then that the program is funded by Title I, Head Start, Voluntary Preschool, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

See the complete Oak Ridge Police Department presentation on public safety statistics at Elm Grove Park and Scarboro Community Center here.

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