Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School Superintendent Andrew Linkenhoker speaks about the future of the horticulture/forestry building during a meeting Tuesday in the library of the school in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN GUTTING

Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School trustee Michael Cahillane speaks about the future of the horticulture/forestry building during a meeting in the library of the school on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN GUTTING

Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School trustee Richard Aquadro speaks about the future of the horticulture/forestry building during a meeting in the library of the school on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN GUTTING

Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School Superintendent Andrew Linkenhoker speaks about the future of the horticulture/forestry building during a meeting in the library of the school on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN GUTTING

Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School Superintendent Andrew Linkenhoker, center, and trustees Richard Aquadro, left, and Michael Cahillane discuss the future of the horticulture/forestry building during a meeting in the library of the school, Tuesday, in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN GUTTING

NORTHAMPTON — Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School leaders are considering a plan that would turn the May 23 horticulture building fire into an opportunity to create new learning spaces for generations of future students.

The school’s board of trustees did not take any votes about the future of Building E during a Tuesday meeting, Superintendent Andrew Linkenhoker said, but members agreed in principle that they would prefer to demolish what remains and replace it with a bigger, better building designed to serve students for the next 20 to 40 years.

An expanded horticulture building is one of three options under discussion. The more conservative plans would be to rebuild the section that was destroyed or to demolish the whole building and replace it with a building of the same square footage.

“The demo right now, the quote we have is to take down the back garage, the office and (the damaged) classroom,” Linkenhoker told the trustees’ property subcommittee during an earlier Tuesday meeting. “The front garage, (the undamaged) classroom, the head house, the greenhouse, would all be standing.”

The superintendent, though, is just one of the officials who said that a partial demolition and rebuild is not ideal.

“What we’d like to do and what we can do, those are two different realities,” trustee Richard Aquadro said during the subcommittee meeting. Still, he advocated for the board to “take advantage of this misfortune and make something positive out of it.”

Linkenhoker said the building is insured for up to $1.5 million. In the immediate aftermath of the fire, Northampton Fire Rescue estimated the damage at $525,000. The school is preparing to submit its claim, but the insurance company, MIIA, did not provide a timeline for payment and the final amount to be paid is unknown.

“How we deal with that check is up to us,” Linkenhoker said. He cautioned that the insurance check might not cover even the cheapest choice and that other funding needs to be explored.

Linkenhoker said he plans to apply for an upcoming grant that would provide as much as $5 million to the school, 70% of which could be used for facilities, and take advantage of other money that is available from the state. Northampton’s state legislators, Sen. Jo Comerford and Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, are also looking for ways to direct funds to the effort, he said.

The subcommittee made a list of architects to contact in hopes of hiring a firm within weeks. Members said the goal was to have a team in place by the next full board meeting on July 6, at a time to be determined.

Trustees Chairman Michael Cahillane, also a member of the property subcommittee, said he wanted the horticulture teachers, and potentially the students, to play a role in deciding the future of the building. He said the fire presented an “opportunity to expand our school.”

Officials also spoke of the need to replace Building D, which Cahillane joked has been maintained over the years with gum and duct tape. The night before the fire, a powerful wind storm blew off a section of Building D’s roof, forcing students to use temporary classrooms and shops while a crew made emergency repairs.

Horticulture students are now spending the final days of the school year in temporary classrooms while continuing their shop work outdoors. Administrators and trustees are working on a plan for the coming year.

When the fire started, a Northampton Fire Rescue crew was already at the school to make a delivery of fire extinguishers. More than a half dozen area departments provided mutual aid. No people or animals were injured.

State and local investigators determined that the fire was accidental and “most likely started when the exhaust of a riding lawnmower came into contact with combustible materials” stored in a garage bay.

Equipment like hand and power tools and riding lawnmowers was insured for up to $238,000. Linkenhoker said the school is collecting donations of tools, technology, money and gift cards to increase the amount of insurance money that can be spent on a new building or even more equipment.

Donated items must be new. The school is seeking Chromebooks, laptops, handheld GPS devices, protective gear for chainsaw use, shovels, rakes, spades, pruning saws, fiberglass measuring tape and more.

Linkenhoker said he requested permission from the state to use $15,000 in existing grant money to replace a zero-turn riding mower. To date, the public has donated checks and gift cards worth a total of $9,350.

Donations by check, made out to Friends of the Farm, can be mailed directly to the school at 80 Locust St. The school has shared a link for the public to make online donations: loom.ly/BRupuEQ. Donors also have the option to make a recurring monthly gift.

The full, running list of needed donations can be found at https://loom.ly/Ohj1I-k. Anyone with questions can call (413) 587-1414.

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