Assured that precautions will be taken to safeguard a tree planted in memory of a former student, the Freeport Project Review Board has granted site plan amendments that pave the way for a $14.6 million renovation of Freeport High School.

During its Aug. 12 meeting, the board approved a site plan amendment to place two modular classrooms, both of which will be near the maple tree planted on the front lawn of the school in memory of Craig Richard, who died 25 years ago when a vehicle hit the bicycle he was riding. The board also approved a site plan amendment for the project itself, with the same safeguards for the tree.

Both PDT Architects, which is designing the renovation, and Carroll Associates, which is doing the landscaping, told the Project Review Board that the tree would be protected, according to an arborist from Davey Tree Service. Those stipulations are for the two-year construction period, plus another year.

Jennifer Downs, Richard’s mother, said at the meeting that she will consult with the Regional School Unit 5 Board of Directors, to see to it that the tree is protected in perpetuity.

“I feel like the tree is going to stay. It’s just the maintenance plan,” Downs said. “I probably will have to go to the school board before the three years are out.”

Caroline Pelletier, assistant to the town planner, said last Thursday that RSU 5 was setting the stage for the modulars that day, putting up a chain link fence that will enclose the two modular classrooms – and the tree. Downs was surprised to look at the drawing of the modulars, which are 28-by-52 feet, and the fence.

“They can fit in there?” Downs asked the board. “It’s awful close. It’s a small front lawn.”

The modular classrooms, needed while renovations are under way, will be on the front lawn for about 18 months. They will be placed on concrete block piers so that drainage in the area should not negatively impact the tree.

“They have been positioned so that they avoid the 20-foot buffer for the memorial tree,” said Kathy Cahill of PDT Architects, project manager for the school renovation.

Pat Carroll of Carroll Associates said that the buffer zone around the tree is bigger than the drip line. Carroll assured the board that RSU 5 has agreed to abide by Davey Tree Service’s specification.

Board member Bryan Sloat advised that there “can’t be any chance that foot traffic can cause damage to the tree’s roots.”

The fence will separate nearby parking spaces from the portable classrooms.

The RSU 5 site plan amendment for the 24-acre high school parcel itself includes the construction of a two-story addition. The industrial arts building will be removed.

The project also calls for reconstruction of the athletic field, to achieve improved drainage.

The site plan amendment provides for a transfer of ownership from the town to RSU 5 of a portion of land on Snow Road so that the property line is eliminated, to accommodate the addition. RSU 5 will grant an easement to the town so that people can still travel over the road, and the town can maintain it.

Jennifer Downs, center, takes notes at the Aug. 12 meeting of the Freeport Project Review Board. Downs is the mother of Craig Richard, killed 25 years ago in a bicycling accident. The Project Review Board granted a site plan amendment for a renovation of Freeport High School, with the condition that a tree planted in Richard’s memory on the front lawn of the school be preserved. To Downs’ right is her daughter, Sharon Richard. Staff photo by Larry Grard