WATERVILLE — Four modular residence halls to house 200 students and apartments for faculty members are to be delivered this year from South Paris, where they are being built, to the east side of Johnson Pond on the Colby College campus in Waterville.
The city’s Planning Board approved the plans in a 7-0 vote Tuesday, following a presentation by Mina Amundsen, Colby’s assistant vice president for facilities and campus planning. The buildings are being added to the campus to help meet the space needs of increased student enrollment.
An artist’s rendering of a modular dormitory building planned for the Colby College campus in Waterville. Rendering courtesy of Colby College
Two of the 10,000-square-foot buildings are expected to be ready for occupancy at the end of August; the third by mid-to-late October; and the fourth just before Christmas, according to Amundsen. About 50 students would be housed in each building, she said.
“The idea is to have the students move in at the start of the fall semester,” she said of the first two buildings.
Students would move into the third building mid-semester, probably after fall break, she said. The fourth house would be ready for occupancy in time for Jan Plan, when students spend a month focusing on exploratory experiences, such as internships, research or focused study.
On other matters Tuesday, the Planning Board heard a presentation by Jeffrey Allen of A.E. Hodsdon Consulting Engineers of Waterville about plans to build a 32,700-square-foot addition to Waterville Junior High School, off West River Road. The addition would be used for students attending Albert S. Hall School. The Hall School on Pleasant Street has outgrown its space, according to officials.
The junior high and Hall schools would be treated separately, but have a gymnasium and cafeteria in common, Allen said.
The junior high school has about 384 sixth, seventh and eighth graders, while the Hall School has about 235 fourth and fifth graders.
The board considered a preliminary plan for the project so no vote was required. The plan, according to Allen, is to have the school addition ready for occupancy in the fall of 2023.
An artist’s rendering of a proposed addition to Waterville Junior High School, off West River Road. Rendering courtesy of Garrison Consulting
Engineers are working on making traffic flow more efficient and safer for buses, parents and staff members entering and exiting the property.
The school has one entrance and exit point from West River Road which causes traffic problems, according to board members. Another entrance from West River Road to the north of the current one is planned, according to Allen. Islands are also to be installed to mark travel spaces, creating a smoother traffic flow near the school.
Allen said the islands would make it more difficult to plow snow, and the city’s Public Works Department would have to use smaller plow trucks there. He said a left turn lane is planned on West River Road, leading into the school property, for motorists coming from the north.
Planning Board member David Johnson said he is familiar with the site and the traffic issues. He suggested the current entrance to the school be made one way in and the one to be built to the north of it one way, too.
“The turning lane is great,” Johnson said. “I’ve seen traffic back up to Temple Academy before, in the morning, so it is quite bad from a traffic flow perspective.”
An artist’s rendering of a proposed addition to Waterville Junior High School, off West River Road. Rendering courtesy of Garrison Consulting
Johnson suggested having two lanes going in the same direction into the school at the most southerly entrance, with the left lane for parents dropping off children, and buses and staff members could be in the right lane. Now, buses and other traffic end up driving to the left of parents lined up to drop off students, Johnson said.
Johnson said there have been a number of “near-miss crashes” in the area.
Board Chairwoman Samantha Burdick echoed Johnson’s suggestion to make the southern entrance one way.
“I think that would make a lot of sense,” Burdick said.
Board member Cassie Julia said the junior high school begins its day early and the drop-off “window” is only about five minutes, from 7:15 a.m. to 7:20 a.m.
She said many parents drive their children to school because buses tend to pick up children very early — as early as 6:30 a.m. She said she suspected fewer parents drive their children to the Hall School because buses pick them up at a “reasonable” hour each morning. Thus, she said the traffic problems would probably not be as significant for Hall School children as for junior high school students. The Hall School drop-off is from 7:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m., she said.
The traffic problem at the junior high school is “huge,” according to Julia.
“It’s a nightmare,” she said. “I’ve seen so many accidents in that parking lot. I’m just very happy that we finally have the chance to address these problems.”
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