OCEAN TOWNSHIP – The town’s Board of Education is accepting proposals from the public on future plans for the historic Oakhurst School building on Monmouth Road.
The more than 100-year-old building currently houses the school district’s administrative offices and the Ocean Township Historical Museum, but the structure is in dire need of repairs, according to Superintendent of Schools Thomas Pagano.
“The board hasn’t accepted any bids, plans or entered into negotiations,” said Pagano after the meeting last week.
“All the board has done to this point is pose the question simply, ‘What are some of the options for this particular building and site?’ ” he said.
The board has asked for requests for proposals, or RFPs, according to Pagano, who said the proposals are different from soliciting bids for construction projects.
“We want to know what proposals people may have for this site,” Pagano said. “Once they are all in, the board will sit down and evaluate them.
“Maybe none of them will suit the best interests of the school district. Maybe someone will have a proposal that will have the best interests of the school district and the residents who are concerned [in mind],” he said.
The school building, most commonly referred to as the Old Oakhurst School, was built in 1900 and is difficult to maintain, according to Pagano.
“Walking around and looking at the original plaster and other types of work that has been done and redone over the years, I don’t think there is anyone that can walk through here and say this is an adequate facility to serve the needs of the district,” Pagano said.
“Right now I would characterize this building as one that needs a lot of work to bring it up to the standards that exist in buildings today, in terms of wiring, plumbing and accommodations for disabled persons,” he said.
Pagano said he has heard concerns from residents about the potential loss of the former school building.
“Make no mistake, the citizens here are not just concerned with the building, but the building as a linchpin of this section of town,” Pagano said.
“This is just the latest in a sincere effort on their part to preserve the way of life they know,” he said, adding, “The board recognizes that, and yet their primary goal is to the district.”
Pagano explained that several residents are concerned that the school building site could be developed into residential housing.
“[Residents] are very concerned with the encroachment of Monmouth University via the winter rentals and summer rentals,” Pagano said.
“The folks that live around here see this building not just as a historical edifice, but they are concerned [about] what would happen if this property becomes a target of development, and the board understands their concern.
“Yet, we are trying to balance that concern with the best educational and financial needs of the district,” he said, adding, “[The board] is just seeking information.
According to Pagano, rehabilitating the current building and preserving the site could be too costly a project for the township to fund.
In reference to how costly rehabilitating the current school building would be, Pagano said, “That’s one of the reasons that RFPs were sent out there,” he said.
“The amount of funding required to bring this building up to code in all the different areas seems to be prohibitive, given the primary mission of our school district, which is to educate the children,” he said.
Ocean Township Board of Education Administrator Kenneth Jannarone agreed and said that the board is looking at ideas that will not have a negative impact on taxpayers.
Another option could include relocating the school board’s offices to another building already owned by the township, according to Mayor William Larkin.
“We have some sites in the town – buildings in the town that we own and property in the town that we own – that we are reviewing … with the board to see if they can fit [the school district’s] needs,” Larkin said at the Dec. 3 council meeting.
“It’s all the same town, and we are certainly willing to work to find something that they can use,” he said.
Larkin said it would be too expensive on the town to try to rehabilitate the building and bring it up to code.
Larkin said the building is part of the town’s history and said he would like to see the building incorporated into another facility.
“There are a lot of different things that you can do over there, and one of them would be to work with the old building that is over there and incorporate that into a new facility,” Larkin said.
“There are a lot of things that can be done, and [the Board of Education] is looking into those options now,” he said.