Manchester reinvested in downtown high school

Standards set by the NH Department of Education (DOE) indicate that the state's oldest public high school, established in 1846, should be situated on a campus of 39-acres in order to properly accommodate its 2,400 students. In fact, Manchester Central is confined to just six-acres.

Those same standards call for Central to provide approximately 800 parking spaces for students in the junior and senior classes. The school provides none.

The City of Manchester is presently in the midst of a $108-million school improvement project and $31-million of that sum is being spent on the existing Central campus. Despite Central's obvious shortage of land, the DOE gave its stamp of approval to the building project and obligated the state to pick up 30-percent of the principal cost as payments on the bonds Manchester sold to pay for construction come due.

What is happening in Manchester is instructive to Laconia because it demonstrates the extent to which a municipality controls its own destiny. If Laconia decides to move its high school out of the core of the city to a much more spacious location off the intersection of Parade Rd. and Meredith Center Rd., evidence suggests it will be because that is what residents of the city wish to do, not because that action is demanded by DOE standards.

Further, if Laconia decides it wants to preserve and expand the facilities on the current high school campus on Union Ave. — or even build all new structures on the same site — evidence suggests the DOE will waive its offended standards and approve the project for state building aid.

DOE's thirst for land mass is largely dictated by the need for athletic fields. (See related story.) And there is an assumption in the regulations that athletic fields will be located on campus. "There is no requirement that a school participate in interscholastic athletics," said Edward Murdough, who heads DOE's office of school building aid, "but if you do, we want to know how you are going to provide for the necessary facilities."

Murdough confirmed that DOE will waive its standards when presented with a "reasonable" plan that runs contrary.

Manchester's "reasonable" plan for central included significant renovations to all of the four existing buildings on campus, plus construction of a new 80,000-square-foot building that has raised the school's capacity, said Principal John Rist, to 2,683 students. Work began in May of 2003 and everything is expected to be completed by the opening day of school this fall.

Central's athletic complex is located in Livingston Park, 1.3-miles north of the main campus. The only on-campus facility is a gymnasium.

Although the size of Laconia's student body is now only about one-third that of Central's, the building history of the two schools is remarkably similar.

The primary building on the central campus — the "Classical" building — is a four-story, yellow brick structure that was completed in 1897. Across the front facade oval stone plaques were installed that are inscribed with the names of some of the great thinkers and leaders of western civilization , like Aristotle and Plato. An observatory was constructed on the pitched slate roof.

In 1922 a second building — the "Practical Arts" building — was put up facing Classical, but across Concord Street. Practical Arts was a dark-red brick building that included a grand auditorium with seating for 1,500.

A tunnel was constructed under Concord Street to allow students and staff to go from building to building without stepping outside. The tunnel remained in use until just last fall.

The Central campus stayed pretty much the same until the "James" building was hooked on the side of Classical in 1965. James included new administrative offices, a library, gymnasium and cafeteria. A small, single-story "Industrial Arts" building was tacked on to the back side of Practical Arts in that same era.

At some point in time the city abandoned the stretch of Concord St. that ran between Classical and Practical Arts and the School District constructed a landscaped courtyard in its place. Until now, there has never been anything more than a 40-car staff parking lot on campus.

Laconia High School's primary academic building was constructed on Union Ave. in 1922. A second building was constructed just to the south in 1935. The gymnasium addition that filled in space between the two older buildings went up in 1974.

Finally, the Huot Technical Center was constructed in 1982, and that addition to the back and north side of the school also enclosed the space between the oldest building and the gym into a kind of atrium.

Today, the Central campus maintains the basic "L" shape it has had since 1922.(Picture a square divided into quarters; then, remove one of the quarters.) It is truly an "city" campus in that there is very little grass to be found anywhere.

Central is located six blocks east of Elm Street (Manchester's "main" street), surrounded on all but the west (downtown) side by a working class neighborhood that is heavy on old, multi-story apartment buildings. There is a small "square" of pizza joints, sub shops and convenience stores off the northeast corner.

A major part of the current construction project was the excavation of the entire 250-foot expanse between Classical and Practical Arts. A 145-slot parking garage — enough parking for the entire school staff — was constructed in the hole and then covered with a well-lit, concrete plaza that covers about three-quarters of an acre.

A treasured statue of Abraham Lincoln that dates back to 1910 was returned to campus to serve as a focal point for the plaza.

The new, as yet unnamed, building was constructed on the site of the former parking lot, between Classical and Practical Arts and facing the central plaza. The first floor is reserved for administration, while the second floor contains a new library. New science labs occupy the third floor and the one above it is still more classrooms.

The architecture of the new building is contemporary but its facades marry the colors found on the face of Classical and Practical Arts.

Rist says he now has a net of 33 new classrooms to work with and his biggest problem is going to be convincing the school board to give him enough teachers to use put them all to good use.

The crown jewel of the renovation work is the restoration of McAllaster Auditorium in Practical Arts. The huge room with a sweeping balcony had fallen into disrepair over the years as the school was forced to use it for study halls and the School District rented it out for $100 a night to all comers.

Manchester's Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education, Dr. Frank Bass, called the end result of the restoration work to the auditorium "spectacular" and any visitor would be would very hard pressed to disagree. It is an absolute showcase.

The entire construction project is being managed by city engineer Tim Clougherty. When all work has been completed he said the all Central buildings will meet current standards for electricity, accessibility and air quality.

Assistant Principal Ronald Mailhot said there had been no significant renovation work done at Central since the top floor of Classical was improved in 1993. At that time the school's original auditorium was restored and floors and ceilings were replaced.

The current renovation included new flooring for Classical's other three floors and a complete overhaul of the electrical system. All buildings were brought up to code with fire alarms and a new sprinkler system. The gymnasium and cafeteria in James were also expanded.

A second, smaller plaza was created between James and the back of the new building that serves as an approach to the gym.

Manchester has two other public high schools of about the same size as Central, West and Memorial. The Manchester School of Technology is the city's vocational education center. Its establishment in 1982 allowed Central to put a good portion of the Industrial Arts building to other uses.