OPINION: "Taking The Best Path Forward"

Medfield MA

23 October, 2021

1:24 PM

Description

OPINION: A View from the Community Taking the Best Path Forward I believe that keeping the Dale Street location for a new grade 4-5 school is the best overall choice for Medfield. If citizens can't see how moving the school location is detrimental to open space and our water resources on Elm Street, then we have a much bigger problem than getting a new/renovated school built. Voters recently passed overwhelmingly at Town Meeting articles 21, 22, and 13, all relate to reducing climate change and protecting our water supply. We demonstrated common concern for our planet, and subsequently voted to further mitigate CO2 levels, but if we decide to build a new school on green, open space, rather than renovate the Dale Street site, then something is seriously wrong with our climate perspective. Medfield voters should vote No - a decision not to build on green meadows and pristine open space, not risking our precious water resources, and develop a plan for Dale St School on Dale St. We cannot talk about being sustainable and green on some aspects, and not consider other more important factors such as the "bigger picture." Renovation of the Dale Street school, using a process called 'Adaptive Reuse', and making the campus new again with state-of-the-art technology and expanded parking, would be much more environmentally friendly than a brand-new school located on Elm Street, even with 'net zero' planning. See for yourself by searching online references on Adaptive Reuse to see the possibilities, as compared to new ground-up construction that can take up to 80 years to get a return on investment! This alone justifies a new school located at Dale Street. However, when you also factor in the ability of our town to keep existing playing fields, forested areas, and recreational open space (which we all know has been vital during the pandemic), and BONUS, clean water for the town, how can we even consider building a new school on Elm Street? The most important legacy we can leave our 4th and 5th graders is a sustainable future, with clean air, potable water, and open space in which to play, and to show them we did our part to mitigate climate change by carefully considering every new project in Medfield. Rene Schweickhard, Metacomet St. 'If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through it.' Lyndon B. Johnson