Milton greenlights new H.O.B. Elementary
Milton officials have given the go-ahead for construction of the new H.O. Brittingham Elementary School on Mulberry Street. Construction is expected to begin in mid-January, officials said.
Planning and zoning commissioners unanimously approved Cape Henlopen School District's final site plan for the new school, expected to open in fall 2018.
“The town hasn't had a new school for 50 years,” said Brian Bassett, the school district's director of facility operations and construction. “If they're not excited now, they will be.”
No one from the public attended the Dec. 6 meeting to review the final site plan, and commissioners had few questions. The main concern was making sure delivery trucks didn't interfere with school buses and parent drop-offs.
“Once we get H.O.B. going with construction, we'll time the drop-offs,” Bassett said. “We want the least amount of impacts on the families.”
Most deliveries are expected to come around 9 a.m., well after students are in their classrooms. Concrete deliveries are expected to come earlier, around 6 a.m., which school officials say shouldn't cause any traffic problems. Delivery trucks will be required to head to the site from Route 16, and will not be permitted to drive through the town.
The current H.O. Brittingham school will remain open while the new school is built on school district property behind the 50-year-old building, near the town's water tower.
The proposed $27.8 million school is nearly identical to the 720-student Love Creek Elementary School under construction on Route 24.
Bassett said when Love Creek opens in fall 2017, the student body at H.O.B. and Milton Elementary will shrink to about 430 students and 460 students, respectively.
Once the new H.O. Brittingham Elementary is open to students, the old school building on Mulberry Street will house students from Milton Elementary while that building is renovated, Bassett said.
He said concerns about having buses dropping off and picking up students at two schools on the same site shouldn't be a problem, but may call for another adjustment in school start times in 2018.
“We will stagger the times, but that will be a board decision,” he said. “We won't have as many buses as we even have now. I think the buses can get in and out in a 10-minute window. Once we start construction, I'll be at the job site to see how long it's taking them to clear out, so we have time to get the next set in.”
Construction is expected to begin in mid-January, following the school board's approval, with construction bids opening Dec. 14. For more about the new school plans, go to capehenlopenschools.com.
