Five school buses were parked outside the red-brick structure on 26th and V Streets, Nov. 20. Inside, middle and high-school students rushed through hallways and tested doorknobs, searching for the spiral staircase leading to the tower.

According to headmaster Stephen Repsher, 475 people attended the Hickory Hank’s BBQ at the Newton Booth campus.

Parents and neighbors mingled while Board of Trustees members led advisory groups on tours. Maps of the campus—with tentative classroom labels—adorned the walls.

“We wanted to give students more ownership in the process. We couldn’t do it before because we didn’t have a lease,” Repsher said.

The lease, signed on Nov. 24, gives the school 20 years to buy Newton Booth.

“Because the real estate market is slow, we negotiated a very enviable lease. We have 12 months to investigate, raise funds and build the interior [before we start paying rent],” Board member Steve Edwards, said.

From the outside, the structure looked like it could be a prestigious northeastern boarding school. Inside, however, it was didivided into small, shabby cubicles. Although once a school, the building was converted into an office in the ‘70s.

“It was weird to imagine [Newton Booth] being classrooms with the current set-up,” junior Sarah Mancina said.

Nevertheless, the hallways running through the center of the building and the large auditorium highlighted the structure’s scholastic potential.

The inside of the structure, according to Repsher, will be drastically different next fall.

“Every room in this building, walls, ceilings, carpeting, lights, will be torn down and removed,” he said.

The auditorium in which students, parents, and faculty munched on hamburgers, for example, will become the library.

Sophomore Madison Galati thought the visit to Newton Booth made the move seem more realistic.

“It really got a bunch of people excited about it. Many students doubted that we were really going to move, and now it’s more real to us. I don’t think Mr. Repsher would have had us go if he wasn’t confident we could move [to Newton Booth],” she said.

Juniors Dylan Dahlquist and Sarah Fleming are also enthusiastic about the new campus.

“It would make Country Day look more like a private school,” Dahlquist said.

But juniors Jacqueline Fischer and Sarah Smerling disagree.

“My favorite thing about our school is the sense of community between the middle, lower, and high schools. If we move, we won’t have that anymore,” Smerling said.

Junior Sarah Mancina is ambivalent.

“Country Day is like my home, but Newton Booth is indoors and it looks like a nice boarding school,” she said.

According to Repsher, starting the ’10-11 school year at the midtown site is “definitely conceivable.”

“The real challenges are the neighbors, city government, the timing and the funding. I think we’ve made excellent progress on the first three,” Repsher said.

Repsher met with the city Planning Department, Oct. 29, to discuss parking, traffic, and environmental issues, and he anticipates a “negative declaration”—a recognition by the planning department that the project has no environmental issues that cannot be resolved—soon.

In January, the city Planning Department will hold a public hearing during which residents near the new site can express concerns regarding the school’s construction and relocation plans.

The Planning Department will issue a Special Use Permit, which gives the school permission to begin construction on Newton Booth.

But before the administration can move forward with construction on the site, the school must raise a minimum of $800,000, Repsher said.

“Ideally we’d like to raise a total of $2.5 million to pay for improvements on the first floor and to provide a healthy operating reserve,” Board member Randy Getz said.

According to Board member Worthing Jackman, the school has raised around $700,000 and has about $1.5 million to go.

But around $750,000 should be sufficient to update the electrical systems, plumbing, heating and air conditioning, the fire control systems and the mandated ADA features, according to Board member John Gudebski.

“It [wouldn’t be] the remodel that we’d planned. It’s more of a compromise between programs, funds, and student needs,” Gudebski said.

The school’s goal is to begin construction by May, according to Repsher.

“We can’t start construction until we have commitments for the money. By mid-February, we really need to have our financial commitments in place.”

According to Edwards, the Capital Campaign, which successfully raised money to construct the new lower school, was rolled over to fundraise for Newton Booth.

“Most of the money will come from families who have made donations in the past. [But] we need everyone’s support. We’re calling and sending letters to families asking for support,” Edwards said.

The administration is also contacting parents within the school, alumni and their families, and friends of the school for support, according to Getz.

“There’s a provision that allows us to terminate the lease within a year if it turns out we don’t think we can raise the funds,” Getz said.

According to Edwards, the school probably won’t move at all if the funds aren’t raised by spring.

“We’d have to keep paying rent on the site next year. If we don’t raise the money [by spring], we’ll have to walk from the opportunity,” Edwards said.

Wendy Ross, director of institutional relations, said she’s concerned about the short time frame.

“People are more conservative in their giving [right now]. We’re reaching out one-on-one, and Dr. [Richard] Mancina is working hard to get support for the science wing,” Ross said.

Nevertheless, Ross feels that it’s definitely possible that the school will raise the funds.

“[The barbecue] was very positive. The energy was great, and the neighbors have been very supportive. We had a much greater parent response than we expected,” Ross said.

However, no one made it up the tower because the door to the spiral staircase was locked. Ross said it was already locked when everyone arrived.

Repsher doesn’t know who locked it.

“I guess somebody was worried because the staircase is very narrow. I didn’t find out it was locked until the end,” Repsher said.

“Now students have a reason to go back [to Newton Booth] on their own,” he said.