Construction outside of the school has already begun. (Photo by Tony Wittkowski)
By Tony Wittkowski | Contributing Reporter | The Lowell Ledger
The Alto Elementary School will see a change in its parking lot this summer, which has been a pain to many parents and drivers in the community.
The Alto Downtown Develop Authority is expected to pay for the costs of the new parking lot instead of the school district, because of the problem the old one gives the school’s community.
“The problem occurs when parents come to drop off and pick up their kids,” said Sandy Graham, the Chairwoman of Bowne Township and the Alto DDA. “They are sharing the driveway with school buses, so it’s a problem on the school property and a problem to anyone who is driving up and down Bancroft.”
The same thing occurs during school events, making it a nightmare for those who try to navigate down the street.
“There is not enough parking, people are parking on the edge of the road and in the fire department’s parking lot,” Graham explained. “It just doesn’t work out for the community.”
Graham said the DDA is paying for the new lot because it is a problem that has affected the whole community along with the school. The representative for Alto’s DDA mentioned the pesky parking lot is used for other functions as well.
What has been troublesome to both the school and Alto’s community for years will be reconstructed this summer thanks in large part to funding provided by the DDA.
“It’s a collaboration,” said Superintendent Greg Pratt, who has to deal with the complaints. “They are working to construct this in a time when school funding is really inefficient and not enough to do a project of this scope.”
Pratt said the school and the DDA have been working together for the last year in preparation for the new parking lot, taking into account the benefits for both parties.
“We will be constructing the overflow parking lot and rerouting some traffic for end-of-the-day activities,” he said. “So we were looking at a way to utilize this space in the community, it really seemed to benefit both parties. We are so fortunate to have such a close working relationship with the DDA.”
Some of the changes will be to add 74 parking spaces for cars and creating a new entrance for those cars, so the parents will have a completely separate entrance from the school buses.
The school and the DDA have not gotten their bids back, but are estimating them to be in the range of $120,000. Graham said they are hoping to have construction done by the end of June or early July – well before the next school year begins.
The DDA also paid for the quarter-mile track for the school a couple years back worth $75,000, and will likely go the same route when finding a contractor for reconstructing the new parking lot.
“We’re really trying to encourage anybody local to submit a bid, because last time when we did the track we had about four bids,” Graham said. “We’re expecting that much this time around.”
(Author’s Note: This article was originally published on June 19, 2013)
Tony Wittkowski 