By Celeste Katz Marston — Celeste@theconcordbridge.org
The School Committee has faced tough questions about asking Town Meeting voters to sign off on borrowing $2.34 million for a new bathroom building at the high school athletic fields.
But is the idea now down the drain in the face of scrutiny?
“Not completely official. We will not be pursuing the original amount” and need “a few things” clarified by the Town Moderator, School Committee Chair Tracey Marano said via email last week.
“We may amend the article and put forth a feasibility and design or we will withdraw it and fund the feasibility and design from our capital stabilization,” she continued.
School officials say the CCHS campus needs a basic building to replace three rented porta-potties that have served the 1,800-person stadium since 2015.
The current setup is out of line with state codes that require a certain number of bathrooms based on stadium capacity, they say, plus the portables are difficult for wheelchair users to navigate.
But the Select Board and Finance Committee have pushed back, questioning whether there are less expensive alternatives, such as pre-fab construction, that will still get athletes and spectators where they need to go.
At its meeting this week, the Select Board, working through whether they should recommend voters support various articles, made no recommendation on the CCHS amenities building.
They moved on with the understanding that school officials would not be advancing the measure at the April 29 Town Meeting.
Marano said the School Committee’s discussion of a game plan for the athletic field bathrooms will continue March 26.
