Dorchester Times: Group Supporting New School Project Meets Tonight

Monday, July 30, 2007

Group Supporting New School Project Meets Tonight

The Times has learned that a group of District No. 44 patrons supporting the proposed new school construction project will meet tonight, July 30, in the school library at 7:30 p.m. The meeting is open to all district patrons interested in helping with the promotion of the proposed project and educating fellow voters.

According to information provided to the Times, the group met for the first time last Thursday night to discuss ways disseminating information to other district voters. Alan Eveland of Ameritas Investment Corp., which was selected by the school board to be the bonding agent, gave a presentation to the group. Afterwards, the formation of committees within the organization was initiated.

Ameritas will help direct the effort in bringing information to the voters, according to information provided to the Times. Also present for questioning at the Thursday meeting were representatives from Ayars and Ayars Construction and Architecture.

Those interested in joining the group or assisting with its educational efforts are asked to call co-chairs Kelly Feeken (946-4501) or Donna Havlat (826-5449).

6 comments:

AnonymousJuly 31, 2007 at 9:24 AM
well i hate to say we told you so if anyone went to the school meeting found out that they miscalculated, and it is going to cost more, they wont know until mon just how much, i no i can afford anymore.
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AnonymousJuly 31, 2007 at 9:29 AM
Huh??????? Translator please.......
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AnonymousJuly 31, 2007 at 9:56 AM
Before people starting throwing numbers out and all these accusations... why don't we wait until we get the complete facts to start arguing about things! Seriously, grow up! I don't want to spend anymore than I have to, but why don't we act like adults and wait until we know the absolute facts until we start discussing. At least they found this before the vote could have been passed. Also, if they miscalculated on the new school price, who's to say that the prices of upgrading the old school were not miscalculated and could cost more?
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AnonymousJuly 31, 2007 at 10:35 AM
Yes indeed there was a miscalculation, but I am not sure if we've been previously warned about miscalculations, just engineering problems and the hidden construction costs. Regardless, you have to tip your hat to all of the people who showed up to help their community, and despite the news, kept their composure and continued to plan for the best election process as possible. And well I hate to say I told you so, but the people are Dorchester's best asset.

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
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AnonymousJuly 31, 2007 at 9:32 PM
Does any one have a decent copy of the proposed floor plans for all of the options? The ones that were posted here are difficult to decifer.
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AnonymousSeptember 18, 2007 at 9:13 PM
Building a new school in a town of this size is a tremendous waste of tax dollars and does a disservice to the students who would experience much better education from a larger school. The location of Dorchester makes for a short commute to several larger communities that surround this town - thus consolidation should be a no brainer. I guess too many people in this town have way too much money. Shows there is no such thing as a "poor" farmer if they can afford the additional tax burden. It also shows that they aren't that interested in providing quality education for their children. In no way can this community provide quality instruction with their current teachers - and they can't attract quality new ones.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."