Wood Building at Housatonic Valley Regional May Be Used for Math, Science

FALLS VILLAGE — It’s a question that’s confounded the Region One community for years now: What to do with the rest of the Clarke B. Wood agriculture education building at the rear of the Housatonic Valley Regional High School campus?

One senior Region One administrator thinks he has the answer.

At the Nov. 21 meeting of the Region One Board of Education, Assistant Superintendent Tom Gaisford presented a two-and-a-half page paper articulating his vision for the future of the unused part of the building as a math and science center.

"We currently have very limited space for our existing lab sciences, and no space to support long-term or individual or group research projects or experiments," Gaisford wrote. "Imagine offering juniors and seniors their own lab space to conduct faculty-supervised ‘research’."

Named after the founder of the school’s agriculture education program, the facility at the rear of the campus was slated to be torn down when the new ag-ed complex was completed in 2001.

A group of teachers in the ag-ed department, with the help of alumni and some local officials, including the Falls Village Board of Selectmen, fought hard to save the old building against the wishes of then-Superintendent John O’Brien.

They had hoped to use it to store trucks and large equipment used in the ag-ed department and to create a workspace for the school’s robotics team. An after-school art space called the "artgarage" occupies a portion of the building, but the other half sits largely empty.

Earlier this year Principal Gretchen Foster said she was inclined to turn the unused portion of the building into a place "that would attract cutting-edge science students who would use robotics as a starting point."

A Dec. 23, 2005, letter from several local officials implored Board of Education Chairman Judge Manning and the board "to take a proactive stance to create a vision for the renovation" of the building, which was constructed in 1961. The letter was signed by Salisbury Bank & Trust Chairman and CEO John Perotti, former Region One Board Chairman Robert Loucks, former HVRHS Principal Jack Mahoney, former Falls Village First Selectman Louis Timolat, former building committee Chairman Frank Perotti and State Rep. Roberta Willis (D-64).

They estimated the value of the building to be about $1 million and asked that it "not be squandered through neglect." They further urged the board to set aside funds for a professional study to determine the best use for the building.

Gaisford had high praise for both the ag-ed department and the robotics program, and for ag-ed department co-chair Mark Burdick for helping to save the building. But he noted that the agriculture program already has a "rather large footprint on the campus," while the robotics club "involves about 14 students."

"This school has many young people who have demonstrated the intellectual and academic discipline to pursue advanced placement courses in [the sciences]," Gaisford said. "Not all of them take advantage of our program nor actualize their potential."

Demand for professionals skilled in math and the sciences is high, so the use of the Wood building for those disciplines makes sense. Gaisford envisions an interior that is "flexible and multifunctional but not fancy." He noted that the study of math and science can sometimes be noisy and disruptive, so a stand-alone building for those subjects would be academically sound.

Gaisford added that the school’s Envirothon team is interested in the "greening" of the campus. "What better place to start than with the retrofitting of this building?" he asked. Particular attention could be paid to water use and energy efficiency, which could result in the awarding of grants from the state or other entities.

"The mechanical systems of the building would serve a secondary role as instructional equipment," Gaisford explained. "The entire space could be an alternative energy lab."

The board members and Burdick were generally supportive of Gaisford’s idea. Patricia Chamberlain, the Region One superintendent, suggested his document could be used "as a foundation as we move forward — a rough draft that can be refined."