Keene, New Hampshire

A Project of Marinace Architects, P. A.

From Keene School District:

Keene Middle School (KMS), built in 1912, has served the community well for the past 96 years  first as a high school, then as a junior high school and most recently as a middle school. This aging building now faces numerous health and safety code violations, and structural limitations which affect, not only the health and well being of the 1,000 students and staff who occupy the building on a daily basis, but also the quality of the education program.

After studying the situation for more than 18 months and holding four public forums, the Keene Board of Education voted in January 2008 to recommend to the public that a new school be built. The first step called for approval of a $1 million bond to pay for complete architectural drawings and technical specifications for construction of a new middle school. That question was put before the voters in March of 2008. While the bond received 1,546 votes in favor and 1,069 against, the 59.2% support was just shy of the 60% super majority needed for approval.

After the vote, two things happened that had a direct impact on the future of the middle school.

First, in response to the Keene Fire Department requirement that safety issues needed to be addressed in order that the school open in August 2008, the board voted to begin a series of fixes at KMS to address the most pressing fire and building code violations. The first phase of that process was completed in time for the opening of school at a cost of about $500,000.

The second event occurred in late spring 2008 when an anonymous source offered $500,000 to finance a side-by-side look at renovation versus build new. The board accepted that offer with both parties agreeing to hire architect Frank Marinace to compete the study by December of 2008 in time for the board to consider his findings and to make a recommendation to the public in March 2009 about which option to pursue.