NEW $8.5 MILLION POOL, FITNESS CENTER FOR CHS?

PATCH reports on proposals to install a new pool and more at the high school.

The cost: $8.5 million and a nice tax hike to boot.

Read HERE and below:

The South Orange - Maplewood School District will consider building an addition to Columbia High School (CHS) that would house a new aquatic center with a six-lane pool and a fitness center, according to the Board of Education (BOE) discussion on Monday night.

The aquatic center is one option the board is discussing to refurbish the existing pool -- which is currently closed because the ceiling is structurally unsound -- while gaining additional classroom space.

The plan was presented by the district's Business Administrator Cheryl Schneider, who showed the board blueprints of the proposed addition.

The aquatic center would be built in the current gym parking lot, with an entrance on Valley Street. That plan would also construct a new, 2,400 square- foot fitness center to replace the current one.