CCHS Building Committee Presents Update

The CCHS Building Committee presented updated plans, budget, and timeline for a new high school last night at the current in the latest of a series of presentations designed to bring Concordians up to speed on the progress of this proposed major project. Committee members Jerry Wedge and Michelle Ernst both presented background information that firmly supports the need for a new school, while architectural firm OMR gave the rationale for the building design as well as showed an artist’s rendering of what it would look like.

The building

In developing the design for a new high school, much thought was given to the topography of the location, the access from the roads, the impact on local residences, and the solar orientation of the building. The result is to place the new building behind the footprint of the existing one, which allows construction to happen while not impacting students. Because of the way the land slopes, the building will be a four-story structure in the front, and three stories in the back, with plenty of parking around the building. On the ground floor level will be the information commons, which includes the library, planned as the main hub of the school, with the auditorium to one side and an overlook through glass into the gym below on the other side. This floor will also be home to the administrative offices, guidance, and the different art disciplines. The second floor will house the English, foreign language, and social sciences departments, while the third floor will be dedicated to science and math.

The lower floor, which will be the community entrance in the front of the building, will open into the cafeteria, with the gym and fitness rooms on one side and the auditorium and drama, band and chorus rooms on the other side.

The plan is to situate the building in such a way that the natural light from the sun can be used to reduce electrical and heating needs. This is just one of many green features being planned for this project; the state gives incentive points for green building design, which helps with reimbursement. The proposed building is roughly the same square footage as the existing building, but the space is more efficiently utilized.

The timeline

The first step, pending the Massachusetts School Building Authority's approval of the project's scope and budget, is to hold Special Town Meetings in both Concord and Carlisle; tentative dates are November 7 in Concord, November 8 in Carlisle. Then both towns must vote in a special ballot, tentatively scheduled for November 15. Next comes the design development, in December; construction documents in the second and third quarters of 2012; bidding in the fourth quarter; and construction beginning the first quarter of 2013. The plan is to have the new school open in September of 2015. According to information presented, this schedule is generous, and it’s possible the project could be completed even sooner.

The budget

The major push for getting this done now has to do with reimbursement from the state: the committee has worked closely with the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the group responsible for choosing which projects will get money. MSBA fully supports this project, and agrees that a new building is the best solution. The total cost as designed, including demolition of the existing building and landscaping of the resulting open space, is estimated at $92.5 million. The portion that MSBA considers reimbursable is $81 million — there is additional gym space that the planners feel is necessary for the needs of the school but which are outside the scope of what the MSBA deems necessary. With a reimbursement rate of 34.58 percent, the state reimbursement would come to $28 million, leaving a cost of approximately $64.5 million to be split, with Concord paying $47.1 million and Carlisle $17.4 million.

The bottom line

The existing high school building is inadequate for the current needs, and in need of major repairs. After much study, the CCHS Building Committee has concluded that, given the state reimbursement opportunity, the best option is to build a new high school. If the two towns don’t agree to this at both the Special Town Meetings and at the special ballot, tens of millions will still need to be spent to upgrade and improve the existing school building. And the option for getting money from the state to rebuild in the future will likely be nonexistent, because Concord will drop to the bottom of the list of towns requesting reimbursement.

For complete information about this project, including copies of the proposed building plans, go to www.cchsbuilding.org.