Webutuck School renovations track to finish before school year

Rain temporarily halted playground construction on Wednesday, Aug. 7. It will feature traditional playground equipment and “ninja-style” elements.

Josie Duggan

Webutuck School renovations track to finish before school year

AMENIA — Webutuck’s $12.6 million dollar capital renovation project is well underway for students’ arrival back to campus on Sept. 3.

Despite the recent rainy weather, Webutuck’s 680 students will be able to return to a revamped campus. The construction is being managed by Palombo Group of Poughkeepsie. Preliminary work began over a year ago, with district voters approving the project in 2022, and the New York State Education Department reviewing and approving soon after, Roy Castellani, the superintendent of schools at the Webutuck Central Schools District said. Construction started on June 27, the day after the class of 2024’s graduation.

Though the project is expansive, taxes will remain the same, Webutuck’s business administrator Robert Farrier said. “We were able to fund this with a loan bond ban for the $12.5 million but it replaces our old debt, so taxpayers will not see any new additional tax debt because of this,” Farrier said.

Following a state mandated building condition survey, taken every five years, the school’s administration and facilities committee as well as a team of contractors and architects were able to determine what changes to initiate for the Webutuck district. The survey prioritizes areas that need replacement. With this information, Webutuck Central School District was able to replace the original septic system. A generator was installed in the high school and the sidewalks in the front of the building have been repaved. New roofs and upgraded HVAC have been installed in the high school, intermediate, and elementary schools. The elementary school received new air conditioning as the campus hosts summer school. After that, Farrier said the school has approval to use some of its savings to add air conditioning to the high school building next summer.

Half of the new panels and LED lights have been installed so far in the high school gym’s remodel. Below, rain temporarilJosie Duggan

Additionally, the gym ceiling has been redone in the high school, including the installation of LED lights. The renovations inside the high school, intermediate, and elementary schools are highly anticipated and a long time coming for the Webutuck Central School district.

On the exterior, the once-cracked tennis courts have been transformed. They can now function as all-purpose courts, including pickleball and basketball courts. The net can be removed in order to accommodate a soccer pitch and kickball. The physical education classes will benefit immensely from this transformation. Lastly, the intermediate school can install a playground. The playground has “ninja-style components,” which the administration anticipates the students enjoying for years to come.

Latest News

All are welcome at The Mahaiwe

Paquito D’Rivera performs at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington on April 5.

Geandy Pavon

Natalia Bernal is the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center’s education and community engagement manager and is, in her own words, “the one who makes sure that Mahaiwe events are accessible to all.”

The Mahaiwe’s community engagement program is rooted in the belief that the performing arts should be for everyone. “We are committed to establishing and growing partnerships with neighboring community and arts organizations to develop pathways for overcoming social and practical barriers,” Bernal explained. “Immigrants, people of color, communities with low income, those who have traditionally been underserved in the performing arts, should feel welcomed at the Mahaiwe.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Living with the things you love:
a conversation with Mary Randolph Carter
Mary Randolph Carter teaches us to surround ourselves with what matters to live happily ever after.
Carter Berg

There is magic in a home filled with the things we love, and Mary Randolph Carter, affectionately known as “Carter,” has spent a lifetime embracing that magic. Her latest book, “Live with the Things You Love … and You’ll Live Happily Ever After,” is about storytelling, joy, and honoring life’s poetry through the objects we keep.

“This is my tenth book,” Carter said. “At the root of each is my love of collecting, the thrill of the hunt, and living surrounded by things that conjure up family, friends, and memories.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Clued in

The first play in four years returned to the Webutuck Auditorium Friday, March 28. The production of Clue was put on entirely by students from the Webutuck Middle School and starred an ensemble cast of, from left to right, Jacob Dean as Mr. Green, Caroline Eschbach as Mrs. White, Brooke Bozydaj as Yvette, Liam Diaz as Wadsworth, Nolan Howard as Colonel Mustard, Mariah Bradley as Miss Scarlett and Lois Musgrave as Mrs. Peacock who is pictured on the floor of the stage.

Photo by Nathan Miller