To the editor:

With rising tides and worsening floods I do not want to see out taxpayer money wasted on trying to build a new school on its present wet, flood-prone site.

I have lived in Bristol for 28 years and was a teacher at Mt. Hope High School for over 17 years until I retired in 2016. During those years I witnessed the long-term damage to the building caused by constructing a high school in a flood-prone area and over a river.

On several occasions corridors were flooded during the school day, making them impassible. One corridor adjoining the gyms passes over a creek, which sometimes becomes a river. The force of the water eroded the supports of the corridor and building, causing it to sink and require reinforcement. On more than one occasion the river overflowed its banks and flooded almost up to the edge of the hall and nearby classrooms.

On the opposite side of the school property, the retaining pond below the football field flooded over its banks into the street many times. One year, classes were interrupted by an announcement advising students who had parked on the street to move their cars because the water was flooding into some cars. As a result of my experiences at Mt. Hope High School I do not support building a new high school on this site, or any low, flood-prone area.

Fortunately there is higher ground available in Bristol, some of which is undeveloped. I think the Town should open talks with Brown University and the State of Rhode Island. Brown University owns unused property near Mt. Hope Farm, and the State of Rhode Island owns several large tracks of land in town. Colt State Park land was once owned by Bristol and perhaps some of that large property near the Town Recreation area could revert back to Bristol.

I encourage Bristol’s leadership to more rigorously search for an alternative site, especially from those who hold untaxed property in Bristol.

Christine Mullen
Lafayette Drive