Transparency is the watchword for Tabor Academy’s new Head of School John Quirk who recently informed Marion planning officials of a proposed campus addition.

Quirk said an application for a site plan review with the Planning Board is the first step to secure permits for an indoor rowing facility for the school’s crew program.

The facility will measure 35 feet by 78 feet, and is to be built between the Stone Gymnasium’s north end and the new athletic playing field’s south end.

The site will not be open to competitors or spectators, which limits traffic impact in the area Quirk said.

Donations from many crew alumni make the project possible.

Tabor will also file a request for determination of applicability with the Conservation Commission, as the site is located in a coastal flood zone.

Saltonstall Architects and CLE Engineering have been hired to guide Tabor through the permitting process.

In March, Quirk sent Marion Town Administrator Paul Dawson a letter with his proposal. The proposed facility will house eight rowing stations.

“While the crew program has been very successful over the years, our ability to practice and compete is often limited by the rough waters in the harbor,” Quirk wrote.

The site review public hearing will be held May 6 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall.

“I look forward to enhancing the positive long term relationship that Tabor Academy has enjoyed with the Town of Marion and our neighbors,” Quirk wrote.

During the past year, construction of the athletic field stirred controversy when officials said Tabor skirted the permitting process.

Marion Building Commissioner Scott Shippey filed a cease-and-desist order in 2011 to halt construction because the school didn’t follow the site plan review process.

Cooperation between Tabor and the town is a welcome development according to Shippey.

“They are going through the proper channels,” he said. “It’s a good step forward for all of us.”