Discussions are proceeding between Dartmouth College and the Dresden School District, which may lead to the acquisition by the College of all or part of the Lebanon Street site on which Hanover High and Middle Schools are currently located.
After a well-attended public meeting in November, Dartmouth and Dresden officials decided in mid-December that it would be worthwhile to proceed with the talks, Associate Provost Margaret Dyer Chamberlain told The Dartmouth.
The Dresden School District, which serves Hanover and Norwich, Vt., is now in the process of determining cost estimates for each option under consideration for the renovation and/or relocation of the two schools.
Dartmouth officials are currently attempting to determine the value of the Lebanon St. property to the College, given the two scenarios in which it would make a purchase.
In "Plan A," the College would buy the entire Lebanon St. site while selling Dartmouth property on Lyme Road across from the golf course to the school district as new sites for the schools.
"Plan B" would involve Dartmouth purchasing only the western part of the Lebanon St. site. The middle school would move to the high school building, and the high school would relocate to a new building on Lyme Road.
Other possible scenarios -- Plans C, D and E -- involve renovation and rebuilding on-site or the relocation of one of the schools without a College acquisition of the site.
Dartmouth has indicated that it would prefer to purchase the entire Lebanon St. property as per Plan A, but that plan was not as well received as the partial purchase plan at the public meeting during which Dresden and Dartmouth administrators presented the array of possible scenarios for the future of the two schools.
Superintendent of the Dresden School Ken Greenbaum described the opinions expressed at the meeting as "diverse," noting the clearest outcome for those in attendance was the realization of the difficulties inherent in selecting an option.
"For those who might have believed that they had the answer that everyone supported, they quckly found out that there were those who disagreed with them," he said.
One option for the district -- which would not involve the College in any land transactions -- would relocate the middle school off Route 5 in Norwich.
A vote on a $1.1 million bond issue needed to purchase the Norwich land parcel is scheduled for Jan. 24 at Hanover High. If the land is not used as the site for a new school, it will likely be used as for athletic fields and tennis courts.
Dresden officials have been looking into means to relieve overcrowding at the schools for more than five years. A $40 million bond issue vote scheduled for October was postponed after the College became involved in the discussions.
Once the school district focuses on one of the proposed options, Dresden officials will investigate its feasibility, develop a design of the new or renovated facilities and finally request that the community vote on a revised bond issue.
Greenbaum said he does not expect the school district to be ready for a bond vote before 2002.
