SCC Plans to Demolish Annex to make way for new community center

After exhaustive study by the Squamscott Community Commons Facilities Committee (Don Brieslden, Chair; Mark Moeller, Chris Davies, Fred Doane, Cleo Castonguay, Rob Roy McGregor and Paul Kirby) will be recommending to the board of SCC to completely demolish the Annex and build a new, efficient community center on the site. SCC hopes to purchase the property from the Exeter Region Cooperative School District following the successful passage of warrant article #7 on the ERCSD ballot on March 14.

At the February 9, 2006 Exeter Region Cooperative School Deliberative Session, Squamscott Community Commons offered an amendment to its original article, which passed. SCC decided to offer the amendment to alleviate concerns that the property might be worth much more and that SCC was getting an unfair "deal." The new Warrant #7 now reads:

Shall the District authorize the School Board to convey the real estate situated at 56 Linden Street, Exeter, NH (old Exeter AREA Junior High Land/Building Tax Map 82, Lot 13) to Squamscott Community Commons for use as a community center "at a sum to be determined by the School Board upon receipt of a new appraisal of the land & buildings including demolition costs to be conveyed by an appraiser chosen by the School Board & on such terms and conditions as the School Board may determine?”

Even with the amendment, SCC has gone on record to state they will still pay no less than $250,000 for the property. The new appraisal and estimates will be done through the SAU16 office after the March vote. The terms and conditions of sale will also be set by the ERCSD board after the passage of the warrant article.

SCC has spent the past year evaluating the site, building, land value, demolition costs, and renovation options. SCC had initially planned to only demolish a rear portion of the building where a new gym and indoor swimming pool would be attached as part of the new YMCA. As the facilities committee researched the cost analysis of renovating the old school versus building new, it became clear that new construction was the wiser choice. The cost to renovate the 78,000 square foot school building which sits in an R2 residential zone (abatement of hazardous waste plus renovation of the existing building for any use - office or residential or a school) was at a minimum $10 million (prior to adding a new pool or gym, calculated at a conservative $130 per square foot renovation cost to bring the building up to code, ADA access, etc.)

The renovations required to bring this tired building up to code are so extensive that there is little residual value left in retaining any part of the Annex for re use as a Community Center. The Annex was built in the 1960's using low-cost construction materials and methods, with energy efficiency not an important consideration in its design.

Retaining any or all of the present building carries with it an extensive amount of inefficiencies and operating cost liabilities; liabilities in the renovating dollar sense that it would cost more to renovate space not required, and, liabilities in the operating dollar sense in that it would cost more to maintain and operate than a new energy efficient building.

Constructing a new building provides a unique opportunity to maximize use of the latest technological advances in energy conservation to keep operating costs both minimal and affordable, and to avoid wasted interior space. It will also make it possible to orient the building in an optimal way so that parking, traffic, and the entrance are integrated into the overall site in the best manner possible, minimizing the impact of the building and its related activities upon abutters while better protecting the adjacent wetlands.

The demolition costs will be the burden of SCC, not the ERCSD. Estimates for creating a vacant lot (demolition, debris removal, hazardous waste abatement including asbestos) have ranged from $700,000 to $1,085,000.

SCC contracted for a written appraisal of the Annex property in July 2005, minus the 3 acre parking lot in the rear. In the appraisal, the demolition costs (factored at the conservative $700,000 estimate) were greater than the value of the land (which includes significant and unbuildable wetlands). The value of the property for the 10.4 acres (not including the 3 acre parking lot) was set at zero market value.