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Published on 11/24/1999 All articles from this issue

Egan memorial relocated under new site plans

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By Linda Taaffe / Town Crier Staff Writer

The final architectural plans for the renovation of Egan Intermediate School are close to completion.

The school's site committee was ironing out some final details last week for the Los Altos School District to submit to the State Architect's Office in December for approval, said Egan Principal Brenda Dyckman.

Last week's updated site plans call for a two-story structure with 10 classrooms, a library, media center and administrative offices; a renovated science wing with four classrooms; the replacement of all portable classrooms; the renovation of each existing classroom's electricity, plumbing and paint; and the expansion of the school's front parking lot to include 50 more spaces.

The plans also include a self-contained, temporary school or "camp" on a portion of the current field area near San Antonio Road where district students will be housed when their school is under construction. A permanent child-care center is planned for the corner of the campus near Portola Avenue and San Antonio.

Egan is slated to get a face lift as part of the first phase of the district's construction plan, which was approved November 1998 with the passage of a $94.7 million bond measure.

Plans to update the school, more than 40 years old, have met resistance. About 75 neighbors signed a petition last month opposing the possible construction of the child-care facility, saying it could generate too much traffic along their already-crowded streets.

Officials said the location of a child-care center on school property would enable the district to recoup some of the revenues it will lose after Covington School is reopened as an elementary school and the current child-care tenants there must move.

Also generating protest is the recent decision to move a memorial at the front of the school. The memorial was erected 10 years ago in honor of former student Douglas Bassett who died unexpectedly after his appendix burst. Some school members called the district's quick decision to move the memorial inappropriate, making something meaningful appear to be "a little thing in the big picture."

Dyckman said during the recent fine-tuning of building plans, the committee expanded the narrow music room at the back of the multipurpose room to better accommodate musicians during recitals. The expansion pushed the adjacent two-story building forward about 20 feet into the memorial area that includes six redwood trees and an inscribed rock.

William Bassett said he supports the renovation of the school, but believes the relocation of his son's memorial is inappropriate.

News of the relocation came near the 10-year anniversary of his son's death.

"I think (moving the memorial) sends the wrong message to kids," Bassett said. "The message we should send kids is that history is important.

"We don't live in a disposable community. I'm for the kids and the school, but why can't they send the right message?"

Dyckman said the district will work with the Bassett family to relocate the memorial in "an appropriate and respectful way."

Facilities Manager Dave McNulty said the district needs to move ahead with what makes the school building work best for the school and the students.

"I sympathize with him very much and with his feelings on that," McNulty said.

"I think we can relocate it, still showing respect to the family."

According to the school district's construction schedule, two school sites will be renovated each year beginning in summer 2000, with the construction work expected to be finished at all sites by summer 2005.

The renovation work at Egan is scheduled to begin in early summer 2000 and be completed by fall 2000.

For more information about the Los Altos School District's renovation plans, call the district office at 941-4010.