Lebanon
At the heart of the debate is a performing arts center planned for Lebanon High School.
Some say the $12.1 million addition is needed to provide students with better learning opportunities, while also allowing other groups to make use of the Lebanon Opera House. But opponents argue the spending is unnecessary and would overburden taxpayers.
“Millions of dollars to duplicate a service is insane in today’s climate,” said Connie Kroner, whose home neighbors Lebanon High School. “It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
The proposed expansion at Lebanon High is part of a larger plan to modernize Lebanon’s school buildings that includes safer entryways, more classroom and administrative space, and improved areas for students in all grades.
Architectural designs of the performing arts center call for a 650-seat auditorium, set design space and a music suite complete with a band room and adjoining practice rooms.
Voters will be asked to approve a 20-year bond for the project at the polls on Tuesday. But Kroner said she’ll be opposing the project.
Students already perform at the Lebanon Opera House, she said, adding the district also has a perfectly functioning backup at the former Seminary Hill School.
Kroner also worried the bond payments would overburden taxpayers at a time when the city already is struggling to pay for infrastructure.
School officials predict residents with a property valued at $200,000 will see a $58 tax increase in the bond’s first year, if voters approve the modernization project.
The construction would then have a tax impact of $256 for that same homeowner in the second year, before slowly decreasing to $232 in the seventh year, according to a chart presented at the district’s deliberative session.
“(Lebanon is) a beautiful little town that’s been here before the U.S. was even a country, and it’s turning into just a money pit as if we’re trying to compete with Woodstock or the Rockefellers,” Kroner said, adding she knows people who are being priced out of the city.
However, supporters of the project say the expansion space would provide a much-needed space for Lebanon’s performing arts students to call their own.
The Lebanon Opera House — which plays host to concerts and plays — is a popular venue that’s almost always booked, district officials told voters at deliberative session last month.
The school’s gym also is an inappropriate venue for activities other than sports and is heavily booked, they said.
“Lebanon students are at a disadvantage in opportunities to perform and to create and share their work with their families, peers and community members,” Lauren Haley, the school’s director of bands, wrote in an October letter to the School Board.
“We are very fortunate and thankful to be able to use the Lebanon Opera House, but not having our own performance space is limiting,” she said.
With a high school auditorium, Haley said, students can spend more time practicing in the space where they’ll ultimately be performing. Students also can learn new skills, such as setting up lights, at the school, she said.
The new space also could be a draw to parents looking to move into the district, Haley said in the letter.
“In an effort to continue to attract families to Lebanon, and to provide a comparable learning environment and learning opportunities, we must have a facility that at a minimum compares to those of neighboring communities,” she said.
The choice Lebanon voters are facing might seem familiar to those living in the Mascoma Valley Regional School District’s neighboring five towns.
Over six years, people there debated whether to renovate and expand the high school in West Canaan. Residents ultimately approved a $21.5 million project during a fourth vote in 2014.
The “crown jewel of the renovation,” which was completed in 2016, was a 500-seat auditorium, Superintendent Patrick Andrew said shortly before the school opened that year.
The auditorium was designed by the same architectural firm working with Lebanon. It includes a high-tech booth for lights and music, a large backstage space, changing rooms and loading docks.
“You could take all the editorials from Mascoma, just change the name of the school and it’s the exact same (conversation),” Gary Hutchins, an Enfield resident who opposed the renovation project, said on Thursday.
Hutchins, a teacher in Hartford, initially advocated for the district to build a brand new, energy-efficient school building. He also worried the construction would be too costly and require future repairs.
The school district is expected to pay $1.3 million in bonds toward the project next year, according to the proposed budget.
“Obviously, (the school) is better than it was, but we could have done a lot better, I think,” Hutchins said during a phone interview. “The auditorium came out beautifully and anything was better than what we had.”
School Board Chairwoman Cookie Hebert said she has no regrets supporting the renovation project, saying on Thursday that the move provided both academic and security improvements.
“It’s proven itself to be such a huge asset to the district,” she said. “I’m very proud of it because it’s just done so much.”
The auditorium, Hebert said, will host the high school’s production of Annie next week.
Students also use the space for clubs, lectures and last year’s graduation ceremony.
“It’s not just an entertainment area, it’s an education piece,” she said.
Voting for Lebanon School District warrant articles will take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Kilton Public Library in West Lebanon (Ward 1), United Methodist Church (Ward 2) and City Hall (Ward 3).
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.