Cost of new Marlboro school is double what officials expected
By Jeff Malachowski, MetroWest Daily News Staff
Posted Sep 13, 2017 at 10:33 AM
Updated Sep 13, 2017 at 10:50 AM
MARLBORO – The cost of building a new elementary school on a
city-owned parcel on Poirier Road would be $67.5 million, nearly double
what city and school officials estimated when they began discussing the
idea almost three years ago.
The school building project team, made up of officials from Lamoreaux Pagano and Associates Architects, Daedalus Projects and school administrators, told city councilors Monday the preferred option is to build a new school on a wooded parcel on Poirier Drive that also contains two high school fields and to keep Richer School in use.
The team studied a handful of options, including renovating Richer for $27.1 million, a renovation and addition to the Richer School building for $55.5 million and building a new school on the Richer property for $72 million, said Mike Pagano, president of Lamoreaux Pagano and Associates.
School officials initially projected the cost of a building new elementary school would be about $35 million. That estimate rose once a design was in place. Construction costs also rise about 4 or 5 percent a year, said Mayor Arthur Vigeant.
The city is seeking funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the project. The MSBA typically reimburses 54 percent of the project cost.
Some councilors worry about the price tag, particularly with the city considering renovations to the library and a new fire station on the west side.
“The price tag is a little staggering,” said City Councilor Michael Ossing, who also serves as the Finance Committee chairman.
Ossing said city officials will have to do their homework and determine which projects are most needed.
Councilor Peter Juaire suggested the project team investigate rehabbing the Walker Building or Hildreth School to save money.
“It’s a lot of money,” he said.
Several sites across the city were looked at for a new school, including Marlboro Airport, parcels on Williams, Spring and Elm streets and the Rawchuck property. Those sites were either too expensive, not for sale, are classified as active farmland or are too small, Pagano said.
The land on Poirier Drive has good access that is owned by the city, Pagano said. Athletic Director Jeff Rudzinsky has a plan to reconfigure practices and games due to the loss of the two fields, Gruelich said.
Building a fourth elementary school would allow the fifth grade to move to the elementary schools.
The project team is slated to submit its preferred option to the MSBA this week for approval. If the MSBA signs off, design work would continue. The city will also request funding from the City Council, which will likely vote sometime next spring.
The team is eying 2019 for the start of construction, which is expected to last two years, Pagano said.
The city filed a statement of interest with the MSBA last spring.
School officials said in their statement of interest that classrooms at its elementary schools, specifically Richer, are crowded. Some English-language learner classrooms hold up to 25 students at one time due to a lack of space. Instruction for some of those students is provided in shared classrooms alongside students who are not in the language program. Jaworek and Kane have similar space crunches.
The school building project team, made up of officials from Lamoreaux Pagano and Associates Architects, Daedalus Projects and school administrators, told city councilors Monday the preferred option is to build a new school on a wooded parcel on Poirier Drive that also contains two high school fields and to keep Richer School in use.
The team studied a handful of options, including renovating Richer for $27.1 million, a renovation and addition to the Richer School building for $55.5 million and building a new school on the Richer property for $72 million, said Mike Pagano, president of Lamoreaux Pagano and Associates.
School officials initially projected the cost of a building new elementary school would be about $35 million. That estimate rose once a design was in place. Construction costs also rise about 4 or 5 percent a year, said Mayor Arthur Vigeant.
The city is seeking funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the project. The MSBA typically reimburses 54 percent of the project cost.
Some councilors worry about the price tag, particularly with the city considering renovations to the library and a new fire station on the west side.
“The price tag is a little staggering,” said City Councilor Michael Ossing, who also serves as the Finance Committee chairman.
Ossing said city officials will have to do their homework and determine which projects are most needed.
Councilor Peter Juaire suggested the project team investigate rehabbing the Walker Building or Hildreth School to save money.
Several sites across the city were looked at for a new school, including Marlboro Airport, parcels on Williams, Spring and Elm streets and the Rawchuck property. Those sites were either too expensive, not for sale, are classified as active farmland or are too small, Pagano said.
The land on Poirier Drive has good access that is owned by the city, Pagano said. Athletic Director Jeff Rudzinsky has a plan to reconfigure practices and games due to the loss of the two fields, Gruelich said.
Building a fourth elementary school would allow the fifth grade to move to the elementary schools.
The project team is slated to submit its preferred option to the MSBA this week for approval. If the MSBA signs off, design work would continue. The city will also request funding from the City Council, which will likely vote sometime next spring.
The team is eying 2019 for the start of construction, which is expected to last two years, Pagano said.
The city filed a statement of interest with the MSBA last spring.
School officials said in their statement of interest that classrooms at its elementary schools, specifically Richer, are crowded. Some English-language learner classrooms hold up to 25 students at one time due to a lack of space. Instruction for some of those students is provided in shared classrooms alongside students who are not in the language program. Jaworek and Kane have similar space crunches.
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