Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 151, No. 38
INSIDE
60 Cents
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
New middle school is at the center of $140 million in facilities upgrades recommended in Avon Grove An extensive renovation of the high school is also included in the proposal
By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer The construction of a new middle school is at the center of a proposed plan to address the Avon Grove School District’s long-term facilities needs. The district’s Facilities Input Group made the recommendation to build a new middle school to the Avon Grove School Board at a meeting on Sept. 14. The recommendation, which is non-binding, came after the Facilities Input Group Unionville tops Kennett, spent more than 16 months 50-36...6B reviewing and analyzing data from the most recent facilities study, enrollment projections, and the district’s current preventative maintenance plan for its buildings. Chester Springs Life magazine
‘Schaller Friends and Family’ at Oxford Arts Alliance...8B
The plan that the Facilities Input Group favored, identified as Option 1C during the meeting, has an estimated cost of $140.5 million. The projected cost of constructing a new middle school for grades six through eight on the Sunnyside Road site is $64.4 million. Another $75.9 million would be spent on an extensive renovation of the high school and current middle school building that would include the addition of new core spaces like a gymnasium, cafeteria, and library that would link the buildings and create a new Avon Grove High School campus that could support 21st century learning for all the district’s students. Additionally, under the plan, the grades would be
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reconfigured at the district’s other schools so that Penn London Elementary would serve kindergarten and first grade students, while the Avon Grove Intermediate
School would be for grades two through five. “We have an important night here in the Avon Grove School District,” said superintendent Dr.
Christopher Marchese at the start of the three-hour meeting in the auditorium of the high school. “This is about planning for the Continued on Page 2A
U-CF School Board Revamped Barn Shops draw votes to share cost crowd to Chadds Ford of crosswalks in front of Unionville schools By John Chambless Staff Writer
By John Chambless Staff Writer
Oxford's ...1B
Photo by Steven Hoffman
A Facilities Input Group recently concluded that Avon Grove High School needs an extensive renovation project to continue to meet the needs of students.
Longtime concerns about the safety of students crossing Route 82 in front of Unionville High School and Patton Middle School took a big step on Sept. 18 as the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board voted unanimously to share the cost of designing a new crosswalk. During public comment at the beginning of the meeting, one resident of Fox Lee Manor told the board, “Drivers whip around that corner. As soon as the crossing guard leaves, it’s a highway out there. It took me 27 minutes to cross the street on back-toschool night because nobody would stop and give me the right to walk. This is putting pedestrians in harm’s way,” she said. One man took a different approach, asking the board, “Is this a school district issue or an enforcement issue? The district provides for crossing guards. At all other times, why isn’t this the responsibility of the township? Why should the district pay when the township should pay for enforcing the speed limit?” The vote came about after township supervisors became aware of federal grant money that would pay for the construction costs of a more robust crosswalk system if the design was paid for by other sources. The design cost is estimated to be $180,000. The township asked the school district to split that cost, which will then lead to a grant that will cover the actual construction, estimated to total $900,000. Continued on Page 3A
Of the many people who came to the Chadds Ford Barn Shops last weekend, several of them mentioned to Bri Brant that they hadn’t been there in 20 or 30 years. “Some of them didn’t know there were so many interesting things here,” Brant said on Monday afternoon. Brant and her father purchased the cluster of independent shops in February, and have already made some changes to raise the profile of the businesses. Out front, a dual sign for Brant’s Arden + James shop and the newly reconfigured Barbara Moore Fine Art shows passers-by that something new is happening. There are bright red Adirondack chairs grouped in two areas, and garden lights are strung across the gathering spaces, uniting the buildings. “I wanted to bring more life back to the place,” Brant said. “I want it to be a village again.” Toward that end, the yoga studio is moving to the same historic building as Brant’s store and the art store. A cafe is coming
Photo by New Leaf Photography
Visitors sampled Chaddsford wines, explored the shops and got to mingle at the reopening of the Chadds Ford Barn Shops on Sept. 16.
to the former yoga studio space. “I can’t wait to announce it,” Brant said, identifying the new owner as a Kennett Square woman who will be offering breakfast and lunch, coffee and sandwiches at the cafe. The addition of the cafe will give customers a reason to stick around in one of the inviting outdoor spaces, and Brant envisions people coming to just hang out or work on their laptops. “You could come here, bring your dog, read the newspaper,” Brant said. “The chef is terrific, wants to try new
things, and she can cook anything. We are planning some special events in the evenings, too.” Arden + James is an outlet for Brant’s stunning leather bags, and she also offers crafts made by some of her artisan friends, including one corner with stuffed animals and toys located at child’s height. People can pick up one of her beeswax candles or a small craft for small prices, as a way of increasing traffic to the shop. Of course, they can also splurge on one of her Continued on Page 2A
Board hears latest news on planned 77-unit development in New Garden By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Garden Township Board of Supervisors in 2016, the plans for a proposed After first appear- 77-unit development on ing before the New Thompson Road in New
Garden Township again took center stage at the board’s Sept. 18 meeting, and while a new presentation continued to tout the
community advantages of such a development in the area, its reappearance a year later continued to raise the same concerns. Richard Meadows of Short Brothers Construction in West Chester solicited the board’s comments and suggestions as a way of moving the project forward which, if approved and finalized, would create a winding labyrinth of threebedroom homes between 2,200- and 2,700-squarefeet in size, with detached garages and driveways, that Meadows said would be priced between $450,000 Photo by Richard L. Gaw and $500,000. The develRichard Meadows of Short Brothers Construction discusses a 77-unit develop- opment, Meadows said, ment that is planned to be built in the township, before the New Garden Board of will include a community Supervisors on Sept. 18. garden, athletic fields, tot
lots, exercise areas and an event pavilion. Meadows called the planned development centrally located, and one that would attract a wide demographic of young couples, move-down buyers and retired couples, thus creating a multi-genrational community and one easily accessible to Kennett Square and Avondale. “Our interest is in specific community building,” he said. “We’re not in the business of doing cookiecutter and one-acre-per-lot subdivisions. That’s not where we put our expertise and it’s not where we’d like to see this project go. We think this project and piece Continued on Page 3A