Oswego Senior Center to lease more space at former Traughber Junior High

The SD308 Board of Education voted to approve a request Monday, April 23, from the Oswego Senior Center to allow the nonprofit agency to use an additional 10 classrooms at the former Traughber Junior High School on Franklin Street near downtown Oswego.

The senior center’s lease agreement with the school is set to expire Aug. 31. After Aug. 31, the senior center will continue to use the former school on a month-to-month basis as the school district pursues the sale of the building.

The former school also houses the Oswego Family YMCA.

In exchange for the use of 10 additional rooms, the senior center has agreed to pay a monthly fee of $1,542 to the district, to help cover the costs of utilities, maintenance and upkeep. The new fee will replace the $500 monthly rent that the center had been paying to the district.

The YMCA has not asked for an expansion in space.

According to Sandy Pastore, executive director of the Senior Center, while some of the additional rooms would be used for storage, the other rooms would become a lecture room, the new computer lab (resulting in no computer classes in the month of May), a dedicated exercise space and an adult day respite space for adults over 60 with mild to moderate memory loss.

“We’re really crunched for space,” Pastore said. “Our programs are bursting out of their rooms.”

During a discussion at Monday’s meeting, board member Brent Lightfoot questioned the possibility of liability issues in the facility if a mechanical or structural failure were to occur.

“What would be the implication to the district?” he asked.

Lightfoot also expressed concerns that in the event of damage to the building, the district would have to find adequate and alternate space for the tenants.

Board attorney Maureen Lemon said that the lease is silent on that matter.

The state of the building’s HVAC system and the air conditioning system located on the roof were also discussed by the board.

Director of Operations Mike Barr said that he was “absolutely” worried about the same matters raised by the board. The rooftop unit, Barr said is “near failure,” adding, “Keep your fingers crossed.” Units in the basement boiler room – at least 16 years old – are still being maintained by the district, but Barr admitted that it is becoming a challenge.

“These are good reasons why we need to sell the building, because these are big-ticket items, and we have no educational programs in that building,” Superintendent John Sparlin said.

The price that the board set to sell the building, Sparlin said, would include those costs.

Board member Matt Bauman said the district’s liability would remain the same, whether the center expands or not.

“We’re not extending the lease beyond Aug. 31, this is more money for additional space,” he said.

As the addendum to the contract would only last until the contract expires, Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Asif Dada said that the district will examine those concerns in detail after Aug. 31, when the district will enter into month-to-month contracts with the Senior Center and YMCA. Dada said that the district would be adding language into the month-to-month contracts to protect the district from those concerns.