YMCA eyed as supersized elementary school on Hixson Pike

AGING SCHOOLS• Alpine Crest Elementary: Age, 54 years; enrollment, 301 students; square feet 40,415• DuPont Elementary: Age, 53 years; enrollment, 363 students; square feet, 45,936• Rivermont Elementary: Age, 58 years; enrollment, 209 students; square feet, 50,489Source: Hamilton County Schools

photo Lucy Tanner, left, and her husband Tim Tanner swim Monday at the Hixson YMCA.
photo Site of Hixson area elementary schools.

The Hamilton County School District moved closer to its long-range goal to shut down Alpine Crest, DuPont and Rivermont elementary schools and replace them with a new, supersized elementary school where the Hixson Pike YMCA now stands.

That's because, under a recent settlement over unpaid liquor taxes, the city of Chattanooga released its interest in the indoor swimming pool it built a decade ago at the North River YMCA.

Getting the city out of the picture should save the school district about $1 million, if it buys the North River YMCA, Assistant Superintendent Gary Waters said.

"It was something that we needed to get out of the way, if we ever needed to purchase the property," Waters said. "If we do enter into negotiations, the price of the pool is not a consideration."

School officials contemplate building an 1,100-student elementary school on Hixson Pike as part of the district's 2011 school facility plan.

One reason the district wants to build a school on the 13-acre YMCA property, Waters said, is that it's right next door to DuPont Elementary School, which sits on 12 acres that the DuPont family gave to the school district - on the condition that it remain a school in perpetuity.

"If it ceases to be used for a public school, then it would revert to the DuPont heirs," he said.

School district officials also like large elementary schools, Waters said, since they're more efficient to staff and heat and cool. The three schools to be replaced average 55 years old.

"It's just far more efficient," Waters said. "It's just a move to try to contain operating costs."

Large schools can better cater to students' needs, he said, since they're more likely to have full-time physical education and music teachers in class every day as opposed to small schools where such classes are held less frequently.

'I like little schools'

The plan for an 1,100-student elementary school on Hixson Pike wasn't popular with parents who lined up in their vehicles up Monday afternoon to retrieve kids from Alpine Crest Elementary, which has 301 students and is nestled in a residential area in the northeast corner of Red Bank.

"Bad idea," said Annette Stolpmann, who's got two children in Alpine Crest and two middle-schoolers who recently graduated. "It's too many kids. It may be cheaper, but it's not better for the kids."

Lauren White, who's got a kindergartener and a first-grader at Alpine Crest, doesn't want to see the school go away, either.

"I like little schools," White said. "I like the YMCA, too. Don't take away my YMCA."

Rick Madison, chief operating officer for the YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga, said the school district has expressed interest in the North River YMCA property on Hixson Pike.

"There has been some discussion," he said. "They're interested, but no offer's been made."

photo The North River YMCA is located on HIxson Pike, near Dupont Elementary School in Hixson.

Like any business, the YMCA looks at where the growth is to see where facilities should be, Madison said.

"We think there's probably more access to the county in another location," he said.

The YMCA hasn't purchased any property to relocate the North River YMCA, Madison said.

School board member Greg Martin went to Alpine Crest as a child and his district includes DuPont.

"I think it's a long-term project down the road," Martin said of the proposed new elementary school on Hixson Pike.

He compared it to the new Ooltewah Elementary that was built with room for 1,100 students to replace the old Ooltewah Elementary, and to take in students from Birchwood, Snow Hill and Wallace A. Smith elementary schools.

"I think what we've done in consolidating some schools has been painful for [some]," he said. "But I think it makes good sense."

For example, Alpine Crest was built long before schools had to be handicapped-accessible, said Martin, who knew off the top of his head that 22 steps lead into his old elementary school, due to a childhood injury.

"I remember being in first-grade walking with crutches up those steps," he said.

Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/tim.omarzu or twitter.com/TimOmarzu or 423-757-6651.

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