Because of environmental concerns and the objections it raised among students, faculty, and trustees, the golf course proposal has been eliminated from consideration by the Board of Trustees as viable a viable investment of endowment finance. The golf course had a severe ecological price that town, state, and federal levels of government felt was too high to pay, according to Chairman of the Board of Trustees Herbert Kohler. Mr. Kohler’s ultimate goal is to keep the land undeveloped while using it more productively for Choate, and one of the proposals now under review is for an ecology project.
The main problem with the golf course was that it would have required the drainage of the wetlands behind Paddock Farm. This is costly both environmentally and financially. “If you do that [drain the wetlands], then you have to pay for the same area of wetland to be created somewhere else,” says Ms. Sarah Perkin, a biology teacher. Mr. Kohler has accepted the decision to cancel the golf course and is willing to look at other options.
As Mr. Ian Morris , another biology teacher and a resident of Paddock farm, put it, “He [Kohler] is considering funding an environmental initiative, which could achieve his initial goal of conserving the green space on campus.” Kohler, Headmaster Ed Shanahan, and some faculty members from the science department are brainstorming ideas for ways to use the two hundred acres of woodland, grassland, and wetland in question.
Mr. Morris, along with Ms. Perkin, wants the environment changed as little as possible. “They [the hills of Choate] have value in themselves. If they are just green hills, part of Choate, don’t they have value?” he asked. He went on to talk about how the many trees on campus today were not always present at Choate. The boys at the Choate School in the early years planted trees for the environmental benefit of their campus and of society as a whole. Before 1928, when John Ed Wilfong (then head of the science department) and Seymour St. John (then headmaster) came up with the idea of planting trees on the naked hills of Choate, there were no trees between the water tower (on the cross-country course) and the football field.
“But nowhere could be seen a single hemlock, spruce, or white pine which in other days brought perennial warmth and friendliness to New England’s hills.” Mr. Wilfong observed in A School and Its Hills.
“Choate boys planted every single one of these trees,” Mr. Morris noted. “This is a campus which has been grown by students; it has been manufactured by students, and we have a legacy to maintain.” Mr. Morris believes that we should care for the environment of Choate as the Choate boys did in 1928.
Ms. Perkin pointed out that the ecology project might help with the level of interest in the environment among students. “We have a wonderful resource on our doorstep. It will be interesting to see how it gets developed,” she said.
An idea Ms. Perkin has suggested for the ecology project was a series of nature trails with plaques pointing out plants or animals along the way. She also discussed the possibility of having a building where students could take samples and study them. She said that this could help biology classes and some of the science electives with labs. But at the same time, she is also very concerned with the impact these changes could have on the plants and animals. “These species have already adapted to the environment as it stands. We certainly shouldn’t influence the plants and the animals that are present within the zone that is going to be used.” Ms. Perkin explained.
The overarching goal of the project is to create a unique way to promote awareness and study of the environment. The project initiators hope that it will benefit not only Choate, but the environment of the greater Wallingford area as well.
Mr. Morris summarized his hope for the project with a question: “What can you guys [students] do for the campus?” Akin to Seymour St. John’s famous line, “Ask not what Choate can do for you, but what you can do for Choate,” immortalized by President Kennedy ’35.
