The BET and the RTM already gave $2.5 million for the project and it has been appropriated for this fiscal yearīET will be voting on the next year’s budget on April 4.
The BOE originally requested $85.5 million from the Board of Estimate and Taxation for the CMS project, with the office of the First Selectman adjusting that number to just over $77.5 million. Rabin said the building committee sent the BOE its recommendations for the new Central Middle School building at the end of day Thursday. Rabin said the auditorium seat capacity affects the number of parking spots needed for the school so the committee is recommending to the BOE to reduce parking spots from 250 to 150. “The RTM could be using the Performing Arts Center as well at Greenwich High School because there is way more parking,” Rabin said. “I think it’s crazy to think about shrinking (the number of auditorium seats) and then having to find other spaces to do these kinds of performances,” Barro said.Īlong with hosting concerts and assemblies, the Central Middle School auditorium is where the Representative Town Meeting meetings take place. However, some parents disagreed with that solution. “They usually do it by grade level so each grade, even if the grade was full, (the auditorium) would still have enough seating capacity,” Rabin said.įor larger events, such as a band or chorus concert, Rabin said Healy told the committee the school would look to use a larger venue, including moving to Greenwich High. Superintendent Toni Jones did not allow the Greenwich Time to speak with Healy about decreasing the auditorium size, but Rabin said the committee confirmed with Healy that the entire school Central Middle School community is never in the auditorium at the same time for an assembly.
“Will there be a lottery to attend your child's graduation? This is terribly short-sighted and illogical and we will certainly have to add on to the auditorium and expand it.” There is simply no way one can fit the entire grade - currently 187 students - with their parents in an auditorium which seats only 250,” said Janet McMahon, a Central mother and a Parent Teacher Advisory Council facilities representative. “Take for example, eighth grade graduation. Other parents shared their concerns how less seating could affect major school events, such as graduation. “When the performance started (Principal Thomas Healy) noticed that there were a lot of parents standing in the back because there weren’t any seats, so he had one of the seventh and eighth grade chorus (groups) get up and sit on the floor so the parents could have seats,” Barro said. Jen Barro, mother of a seventh grader at Central, said she understands why the building committee voted to decrease various rooms in the new school, but said “it really was a sad exercise” and that the existing size of the auditorium still reaches capacity at some events, including at one of her daughter’s chorus performances.
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