noankjail

September 2007

Notes From the Old Noank Jail

James Abbruzzese Remembered

by Ed Johnson

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Recently, we received word that a local businessman, volunteer fireman and community supporter, James Abbruzzese, had passed away at his vacation home in Florida. The news came as a sad loss for those of us living in this area who knew the family so well

Jimmy was a good friend for many years. When my wife and I first moved to this area in the ’70’s, both he and Orion Ford were the ones who persuaded me to join them in the Noank Volunteer Fire Department. I used to joke that I would never forgive either of them for doing that. Jimmy ran the Universal Package Store in Noank very successfully for many years, knew his wines quite well, but was not a heavy drinker himself. When I myself decided to stop drinking alcohol years ago, I warned Jimmy that he would probably have to declare chapter 11 or close the store, but he somehow managed to stay in business without my help.

My fondest memories of Jimmy involved his annual support of the Noank Band Concerts. A group of us would get together under his leadership and do a very large cookout in the Noank Park to raise money for the Band. The efforts involved were considerable in terms of the preparation but sometimes there were complications with the open grills not cooking the chickens thoroughly enough. The birds would be scorched or burnt on the outside but still raw inside, much to the displeasure of our clientele, who would claim some of the chickens were trying to walk off their plates.

Jimmy then went to the trouble of precooking the chicken at various establishments, including the kitchen of the Noank Baptist Church. However, the floor once became a chicken grease skating rink for the Minister, who did an impromptu ballerina act but was not very pleased to suddenly end up, himself, directly on the floor. Jimmy therefore sought other locations and, with the help of Bruce Main, Dennis Buttermore and Barbara Ecklemeyer, we ended up using the old Abbott’s Cannery facility in New London, which worked quite well.

If nothing else, the birds didn’t walk off the plates anymore.

In general, it is safe to say that it was rare to see a local community project where Jimmy wasn’t somehow involved or a fire scene when he wasn’t one of the drivers or firemen. It was rare not to see a smile on his face or a friendly laugh at somebody’s silly jokes (such as my own) and it was very obvious that he enjoyed working and helping other people. In later years, Jimmy developed some health issues that slowed him up considerably, but thanks to his wife, Joan, with her care and persistence, he remained as a guiding spirit for many of us for the rest of his life.

May God bless James Abbruzzese for being who he was…for all of us.

October 2007

Notes from the Old Noank Jail

Jails and Taxes

By Ed Johnson

Recently, several readers have asked me about the history of the Noank Jail and “was it really a jail?” , etc., and the answer is…yes, part of the present residence actually was used as a jail.

Prior to 1900, the original structure merely consisted of a small square building approximately 21 feet by 21 feet, which is now the area occupied by our living room and stairway. Town records indicate this building was initially constructed in 1850. It was located over near the Noank Railway Station off of Front Street next to what are now the AMTRAK high speed rail tracks. At that specific location, it was used by a local Constable named Sawyer who used the building primarily as a temporary lock up for folks who had been drinking too much and/or misbehaving.

Some residents may have objected to the fact that railroad passengers would look out at the jailhouse and perceive Noank as an unsavory, undesirable village. In 1913, Town records indicated that Noank no longer needed a jail so the building was sold and physically moved as a complete building unit over to its present Main Street location onto a small, narrow lot. A previous structure at that site had burned to the ground during a disastrous fire in that area circa 1900, but part of the old foundation remained. Thereafter, the building served as a barber shop, a “speakeasy” and finally a private residence for several owners before we bought it 35 years ago.

The “jail” received a rear addition later on, followed by a small side garage, which we converted to an office, followed by a rear porch that we added more recently. One of our neighbors has described a visit in our jail house to resemble “walking through a railroad car.” When asked why we built the porch in the rear of the house, rather than in front, our usual response is “to avoid zoning issues and summer tourists looking for Abbotts.”

Being somewhat of a prankster, I noted the many historical signs on many of our neighbor’s homes, denoting the various famous local figures who owned those houses back in the 1800’s, and decided that our “jail” might as well be famous, too. With the help of historian Peter Littlefield, we verified the above background of the jail and then had an appropriate Historical Society plaque installed facing the street, thinking it would make for a nice counterpoint joke for our neighbors.

Little did we realize how much attention it would draw from the tourists…thank God for the rear porch. Little did we realize, either, how badly my little joke would backfire. It turned out that the nice little lady manager of the CLT group, hired by the town to reevaluate residential properties for tax purposes, drove by our “jail” house last year. My heart sank when I was advised that she thought our little jail house was “cute.”

Try to imagine how much the nice lady manager decided our new valuation would be, or let’s just say that I considered replacing the “Jail” sign with one which would read “Federal Gold Depository.”

Which, unfortunately, brings me to the serious side of the picture….Property Tax.

Our local geographical area did not fare well during this past CT Legislative session regarding the issue of reducing Town dependence on Property Tax. Despite an effort by Governor Rell herself to address this issue, the subject eroded into yet another conflict between the Republicans and Democrats. For two years in a row, no real progress has been made.

Some of our existing local legislators were voted into office because many of us felt that they would be able to help accomplish the task of getting our local governments away from dependence on the property tax. Running out of time, these legislators are now tasked with finally accomplishing this in the next legislative session. They need to find a way for both political parties to cooperate on solutions, rather than to continually get bogged down criticizing each other in the press, as has happened lately. Otherwise, they should find some other pastime and leave politics. Enough, already.

Because far too many of us are fed up with being taxed on unrealized gains, completely out of proportion to our incomes. For us older folks who have lived in our homes and served our communities for 30 to 50 years, it is now the primary political issue of our lives.

In a way, for some of us, it is almost like living in jail.

October, 2007

Notes from the Old Noank Jail By Ed Johnson

MARY DAVIS REMEMBERED

Recently, with great sadness, we learned of the death of Mary Davis of Noank. The loss of this fine lady to her husband, family and the local community cannot be calculated.

My wife and I moved to Noank back in the seventies after having met both Mary and Howard Davis initially through friends living nearby. We fell in love with both of them immediately and they lost no time in helping us get oriented as new members with the Noank Baptist Church. They sensed correctly that we needed to establish roots, especially as we now had a young child to raise.

What we noticed immediately about Mary was that she had sharp eyes and rarely missed any details. She was protective of the neighbor’s young children, one of whom was constantly getting into mischief, but she was at the same time kind and forgiving of their mistakes. Mary also gave Howard considerable support with his work at the Mystic Seaport and always patiently encouraged his home projects (boats, naturally), which were considerable distractions.

Mary and Howard truly enjoyed doing the simple things in life together. Going to a SUNL luncheon or having a Sunday fish dinner at Howard Johnson’s were noteworthy events for both of them. Howard would frequently wax eloquent about the specific menu of the SUNL luncheon when reporting back in our church business meetings, much to the amusement of Mary and the other church members. The actual subjects of the meetings themselves were usually glossed over as a result.

What I remember most about Mary Davis is that, to me, she became a symbol of “the Women of Noank.” These were the people who went calmly and steadily about their business of raising families and caring for their working husbands. These were the same people who in their “spare time” would spend countless hours in places like Noank’s “Corner Closet” arranging the donations that arrived, heaped, upon the front door, so that some hapless figure such as myself would come in buy some of them.

All of the money raised at the Corner Closet went to support the missions of the Church and Mary, among others, never grew tired of putting in her time at the store. In fact, she was probably the main reason that I bought anything at the store at all because, Lord knows, they normally didn’t stock any clothes in my size and certainly didn’t stock my shoe size of 16 – 5E. But Mary always found some knick knack that looked expensive so that I could give an occasional “impressive” gift to my wife.

And of course, when my wife frequently saw through this sham, I was always able to justify it by saying, “Hey, don’t blame me. Mary Davis made me buy it for you. She said she thought you would like it. Do you want me to take it back?” Naturally, this tactic worked (almost) every time. The thought of taking something back to Mary Davis was out of the question.

We are going to miss Mary a great deal now that she is gone. She was a part of the Noank community that we found attractive and made us decide to move here from New Jersey. Mary represented an older, more stable lifestyle involving real community commitment, but without fanfare. She was a quiet role model, never seeking recognition but always receiving respect. We will always be grateful to Mary for allowing us to share in her life and the lessons we learned as a result. God bless her.

Dated in 2007

Notes from the Old Noank Jail by Ed Johnson

We Need Water

Recently, there was discussion at Groton Town Council meetings concerning new local schools opening on a revised schedule early in January. Thus far, despite minor glitches, everything appears to be going well. In one case, the Old Mystic Fire Department and Groton Department of Public Works devised an interesting plan to meet national guidelines. They needed to be prepared for an unlikely worst case scenario if a major fire were to occur at the Northeast Academy elementary school at Fieldcrest, and planned accordingly.

The previous Hathaway School at Oslo Street did not contain sprinklers. When the School Board decided to expand at that location, the new design, by code, required sprinklers to be installed. With a nearby 125,000 gallon water storage tank already in place off Nantucket Avenue, the Life Safety Code and the ability to evacuate children with staff to safety was never in question. However, to further meet other national guidelines, an additional attack plan was devised which involved the Old Mystic Fire Department receiving mutual aid by neighboring rural departments.

The Fieldcrest section and northeast areas of Groton are serviced by the Aquarion Water Company of Mystic. They operate what is considered to be an older water delivery system, suitable for what has been primarily a rural, residential area. Their source of water comes normally from the Mystic Reservoir in the Deans Mill section of Stonington and this source can sometimes be limited as to volume, as is the case with many municipal water supplies. By local comparison, Groton Utilities has access to much larger water supplies and a greater reserve during drought periods.

The national guideline pertaining to Northeast Academy assumes that there is a sufficient initial source of water to supply the sprinkler system for life safety and evacuation purposes but that there must also be some method to continue fighting a fire at the building by using pumper engines, hoses and firefighters, in the event the sprinkler system fails to put out the fire. The guidelines call for a sufficient volume of water, perhaps as much as 250,000 gallons, to be available over a 3.5 hour time period. As noted previously, the nearby Fieldcrest neighborhood tank does not contain that volume of water, and the ability to resupply the local system from the Allyn Street Tank to Fieldcrest, using a nearby pumping station, is limited.

It is not unusual for fire departments to utilize pre-plans for supplying extra water to areas having low pressure and availability; Fitch High School is a good case in point. Prior to the installation of the large water storage tank on Fort Hill several years ago, and upon receipt of a fire alarm signal from the school, the Poquonnock Bridge Fire Department would dispatch several pump engines plus a ladder truck to Fitch. One of the pumpers would stop at a pumping platform at a lower elevation near the Grasso Technical School, hookup to draw water from a hydrant and pump it up the hill via a preinstalled underground dry pipe to another pumper hooked up at Fitch. This supplied sufficient pressure to the Fitch pumper to resupply water to the other engines located near the building.

The scenario for Northeast Academy initially uses a large supply hose, but will eventually utilize a new $35,000 dry underground supply pipe, from Lamphere Avenue to the school. This plan also involves several large tanker trucks from neighboring departments, operating as a caravan. Each truck will dump water into one of three large open holding tanks, drive to a pre-planed supply point, be refilled by a pumper drawing water from a source not connected to the Aquarion water supply (already being utilized to fight the fire), return to the fire scene, and dump water again. A pumper at the tanks will draw water from the interconnected holding tanks and deliver it via the hose or underground pipe to another pumper at the school building supporting the firefighters. The basic guideline for supplying 1100 to 1500 gallons per minute to the fire scene is therefore satisfied.

Later, a long range plan may eventually eliminate the need for such “tanker ballet” much as the large tank on Fort Hill reduced the need for the pumping scenario at Fitch. Current ideas being considered include possibly installing additional water storage tanks, either next to the school or next to the existing Fieldcrest tank. Some of us will remember the major fire at Ted’s Sales Room on Route 184, which drew down almost all the water in the Fieldcrest tank. An additional tank installed on the Aquarion system could provide a better, safer system for some of the local area as well as the school.

However, the simple addition of one more Aquarion tank does not completely address the overall problem of providing sufficient water for the total Aquarion water system itself. What makes more sense to some people is that there could be a cooperative effort by the Aquarion Company and Groton Utilities to provide metered interconnection between their two water supply systems. In this manner, with an additional expansion of interconnected service between both systems up on Route 184, locations such as Northeast Academy would be better able to receive sufficient emergency water to meet the national guidelines.

A referral has been made to the Groton Town Council Committee of the Whole in order to form a “Water Task Force” to study the best solutions to improve water availability to the Northeast area of Groton. We will plan to follow their progress accordingly, as costs to the taxpayer will be a major factor with any water system expansion. There have also been opinions expressed to the effect that the Groton School Building Committee should carefully reconsider any further expansion of the school system as part of Phase II until they review the actual cost impact of Phase I on Groton citizens. The primary concern relates to the recent project cost overruns, primarily due to issues with windows, at the school construction sites.

Hope everybody enjoyed the Holidays.

Dated in April 2005

Notes from the Noank Jail

by Ed Johnson

Family Teamwork

Over 25 years ago, when my wife and I first moved to Noank, we became involved as volunteers with the Noank Volunteer Fire Department as well as joining the Noank Baptist Church. In the process, we came to know Richard and Joan Latham, who were…and are… very active leaders in the local community.

Richard had grown up in Noank, although he claims that he is not a true Noank Native, as he was technically born in New London (To be a true Noank Native, you apparently have to be born on the kitchen floor of a Noank house, assisted by a midwife?). He graduated from Fitch, served in the Army and worked at Dow Chemical in production and pipefitting maintenance from the day they opened in 1952 until his retirement. He served 53 years with the Noank Fire Department and as their Chief for 30 years, as President of Groton Fire Officers and as a Life Member of New London County Fire Chiefs. He served as Treasurer of the Noank Baptist Church and as a Trustee during the period when the church building was rebuilt following a disastrous fire in 1959.

Joan (and her sister, Cynthia) moved to this area as teenagers and after she and Richard married, Joan became a “Noank housewife and mother” raising two children, Mark and Johanna. In the process, Joan became heavily involved in helping run the local Brownie Scouts, followed by the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, where her children participated. In addition, Joan became actively involved with Church related activities, including the Ladies Aid Society and as President of Fidelis. We got to know her from attending many of the Church suppers which Joan helped to prepare and serve.

Despite all of this community activity, what drew our attention the most was the love, support and positive attention that we witnessed Richard and Joan bestow upon their children and later, their eight grandchildren. This was most evident in their major efforts to try and attend every possible athletic contest that involved these kids. And I am not just talking about local Groton-Stonington-Ledyard-Waterford-New London or even Hartford area contests. There were, additionally, many trips to watch contests in Worcester, West Point, Pennsylvania and Delaware. And although there were a few times when Richard was unable to attend meets because of his employment duties, Joan always attended, frequently in the company of her sister, Cynthia Borden, an equally strong supporter for her own children. Joan and Cynthia always made sure that all the kids on the team bus each received an apple and a cookie for any athletic game trip.

Richard retired as Noank Fire Chief several years ago at perhaps the largest retirement dinner I have ever attended. When giving a testimonial to his father, Mark Latham, who lettered in three sports while at Fitch, remarked on the strong, constant support that he had received from his parents, including at his athletic games and that “they were always there.” This spirit has carried on to the grandchildren, including Sarah and Aubrey Latham, outstanding in Basketball and Benjamin Latham, outstanding in Track and Field.

And, there is yet another aspect of support…a very special one…that Richard and Joan have extended to their children, grandchildren and some neighborhood friends’ children as well. For the past 30 years, Richard and Joan have taken kids to the Walt Disney World Park in Florida. If you ever want to hear them wax with endless enthusiasm on a particular subject, this is it, hands down. They know all the rides by heart, when they were rebuilt, when the new ones were added, which year the monorail broke down, how fast it was repaired or replaced, what flights and what hotels are best, etc. It is a known fact that they have influenced many other local families to attend…which they have…repeatedly. And, not surprisingly, Joan claims that Richard himself is “the biggest kid of all.”

Richard and Joan hearken back to the older days of the “Noank Families.” Their values, and the values they have instilled in their following generations, are lasting and the basis for hard work, personal achievement and success. And while they are not the only parents and grandparents who love and support their kids, Richard and Joan are prime examples of leadership by good example. In a world now complicated by war and technology, their uncomplicated attitudes give us hope for the future. For this, my wife and I shall always be grateful, despite the fact that we were once stuck in a tunnel ride for younger kids at Walt Disney World and had to listen to little singing mechanical elves shrieking endlessly, “Its a small world after all!”

Political Perspective – Notes From Old Noank Jail

Posted By: ed j
Published 11/11/2010 12:00 AM
Updated 11/11/2010 09:15 PM
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Having watched the election political aftermath on TV, I was impressed by President Obama as he graciously took charge and accepted the blame for the poor showing nationally by the Democrats. Perhaps this was the honorable thing to do, rather than blame the attacks generated against him by the Republicans. However, in my seventy years, with the exception of Watergate, I’ve never seen such a vicious campaign by one party against the other. In a recent DAY article, columnist Paul Choiniere describes the “sleazy lies by anonymous corporate powers aimed at destroying candidates for office…..thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision and the self-centered actions of Republican Senators.”

I am reminded of a dialog called “The American Dream” by the late George Carlin, where he describes America as being manipulated by the “owners” of large corporations. They are the “real owners of this country.. the ones who control things and make all the important decisions. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land….and they own big media companies so they control the news and information you get to hear… They spend billions of dollars every year, lobbying, to get what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else…”

Who are these corporate people and where can we find an example of them?

The August 30, 2010 edition of The New Yorker magazine carried an article by Jane Mayer titled “Covert Operations, the billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama.” She describes, in considerable detail, the activities of Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries in Wichita, Kansas. They operate oil refineries in three states with 4,000 miles of pipeline and they own Brawny Paper Towels, Dixie Cups, Georgia-Pacific Lumber, Stainmaster Carpet and Lycra….with total revenues of 100 billion dollars. Their own personal combined fortune is estimated at 35 billion dollars.

Briefly, they favor lower corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy and much less environmental oversight by the government. They have been cited and heavily fined on numerous occasions for pollution and environmental violations. They privately donate very large sums of money to organizations that fight climate change legislation, health-care reform and the economic stimulus program. They support organizations such as “Americans for Prosperity” (which helps direct the Tea Party activity), “Patients United Now” (rallies against health care reform), “The Cato Institute” (tax cuts, reduce social services and environmental laws) and “Triad Management” (attacking certain politicians) which was financed by the “Economic Education Trust” (financed by the Koch brothers).

In 2000, the brothers supported the Bush campaign and benefited from nearly 100 million dollars in government contracts since then. They depend on remaining obscure so the general public won’t be aware of their activities. One source (from the article) describes them as having a “pattern of lawbreaking, political manipulation and obfuscation.” Another (article) source describes the Tea Party movement as ” a grassroots citizen’s movement brought to you by a bunch of oil billionaires.”

As Mr. Choiniere notes, “shadowy, non-profit groups are using tens of millions of dollars in corporate donations to launch spurious attacks on political opponents, mostly Democrats….the message that these corporations …can whisper into the ears of lawmakers could not be more chilling: Vote with us or we can bury you in the next election without even leaving a fingerprint.”

Can we bring such outrageous activity under control? Perhaps George Carlin gives us some direction…”I’ll tell you what they (the “owners”) don’t want…they don’t want a population of citizens… well informed, well educated people… capable of critical thinking. That doesn’t help them…that is against their interests…they want…obedient workers…people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork…and just dumb enough to passively accept the increasingly lower pay, longer hours, reduced benefits, end of overtime, and the vanishing pension.”

In conclusion, perhaps Mr. Obama was right to take some of the responsibility for the “shellacking,” but, in view of the above, he shouldn’t take all of it. And for those of us who feel that we still have some brains left, perhaps it is now time we sat up and took notice of what really happened with this election, who else was at least partly responsible and bring their activities out in the open for public scrutiny.

Notes from the Noank Jail

CT State Budget Monkeyshines

by Ed Johnson

We seem to have a new state budget “game” which falls into the existing category of “how to further bleed Connecticut taxpayers out of more money.” This time, Northeast Utilities is the messenger and they say “Please don’t shoot the messenger.”

On December 31st, 2010, I received my NU/ CL & P Electric Bill in the amount of $249.18 for 1415 kilowatt hours from November 24 through December 29 and the charges were appropriate for that cold period. However, there was also a notice enclosed which read: “ATTENTION – PUBLIC ACT 10-179 requires CL &P to collect additional charges to fund a state budget deficit for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.” Then the notice went on to say that this would start with January billing and initially be referred to as an “Economic Transition Charge.”

I contacted a CL &P customer service representative named “Curtis”. He stated that CL&P had tried to fight passing on such a charge to the consumers but that those attempts were not successful. He also assured me that none of the extra charges would be retained by CL&P and that all said monies would be referred to the State. Based on my current bill, I would be paying an additional $5.36 for the month.

Initial research seems to indicate that the State does have the power to enact such charges through the DPUC. (“Section 126(b) of Public Act 10-179, An Act Making Adjustments to State Expenditures for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2011, requires the Department of Public Utility Control to establish a charge on CL&P and UI electric bills to recover certain revenue bond costs.The monies collected from this charge will be transferred to Connecticut’s General Fund.”) In addition, it appears that this monthly charge will be changed on July 1st, 2011 and referred to as an “ERRB” (“Economic Revenue Recovery Bond”) which is expected to remain in effect for as long as eight years. However, we do not know how much actual rate will be increased until July.

This new “game” raises the following questions for our local legislators:

a) What irresponsible politicians and lawmakers allowed this legal “theft” to become reality?

b) How soon can we vote these people out of office, regardless of their party affiliation?

c) What prevents the State of CT from pursuing similar future actions against Taxpayers ?

d) Why has there has not been more media coverage of this issue?

In summary, when is the continued bleeding of the taxpayers going to end? Better yet, when are we, as the victims, going to take direct action that is sufficient to MAKE it end?

Notes from the Old Noank Jail

Groton Road Project

by Ed Johnson

Recently, there has been considerable effort by the Groton Town Council to try and deal with the forthcoming expenses involving the reconstruction and resurfacing of Thames Street in Groton City. Thus far, the Thames Street Review Committee has been able to reduce the initial estimates from $10.7 million to approximately $6.4 million. They are still looking at other methods to further reduce the impact on the taxpayers, possibly utilizing some reserve capital, and then actually bonding the project at the lowest possible figure, which makes very good sense.

In my opinion, as a person who drives on Thames Street frequently, there is absolutely no question that this road needs to be completely reconstructed. The present, patchwork downtown area is not only bumpy and uncomfortable but unsafe in some areas. Considering the proximity to the Thames River and the industries and businesses servicing the region, it now needs to be given priority, and I speak as a person who does not live in Groton City. When this project goes to public Referendum in May, 2011, I sincerely hope that the citizens of both the City and the Town will approve it.

Unfortunately when the voters are requested to approve or disapprove the Thames Street construction project in a Referendum in May 2011, they will also be asked to approve $133 million in bonding for Phase II of a school expansion project. I feel it is a mistake to present this school expansion project to voters for approval for the following reasons.

a) I do not favor any expensive large new school building projects. We are not utilizing existing buildings properly from an ecological perspective. The Climate Change Committee has already raised this point.

b) The educational trend nationally is for smaller schools. Groton’s School Superintendent Kadri’s plan flies in the face of this. Large schools do not improve the education of students.

c) As for using existing facilities for younger children to start them earlier, we still have smaller, local buildings which can be used for that purpose.

d) The present choice of using the Claude Chester property for the proposed Phase II large intermediate school is a mistake in itself. There is frequent flooding on Route 117, traffic is already heavy when the existing school is dismissed, traffic on Route 1 and Route 117 will be even worse when Route 95 is closed due to accidents, and there is insufficient space for future playing fields.

e) Consolidation of schools will always increase the need for more bus vehicles, more routes and therefore much more transportation expense. The City of Norwich recognized this many years ago.

f) It has already been pointed out, several times, that we cannot expect as much financial help from the State this year as before. This means that we, the taxpayers, would have to pay much, much more for such a large project.

g) We do not “owe” future generations a big, new school. We “owe” them a quality education with effective teachers and proper personal attention.

h) Neither the School Design Committee nor the Town Council was unanimous in voting to taking the school proposal to the referendum at this time. Some of the reasons involve the above comments. The actual Council vote was only 5 to 4 in favor of finally placing it on the referendum, after lengthy discussion.

In summary, we do need and we should approve the Thames Street project. However, we do not need and should not approve the School Phase II expansion this year; We should work more efficiently with what we have and provide more effective maintenance on existing buildings rather than “letting them go” …figuring that we’ll build a newer school anyway. Those days are over.