Danvers Schools Offer Update On Smith School Construction

DANVERS, MA — Danvers Public Schools provided a visual update on construction of the Ivan G. Smith Elementary School.

During September, brick was added to the exterior of the main entrance. On the inside, drywall went up to be primed and pained soon.

Electrical, plumbing and fire protection are also scheduled to be installed in October.

A time-lapse video of the progress can be viewed here:

Here is a time lapse from the month of September: pic.twitter.com/VASfiPBwNs
— Danvers MA Schools (@Tweet_DPS) October 7, 2020

The representative town meeting in February 2019 approved a warrant article to borrow $31.5 million to replace the Ivan G. Smith Elementary School.

The current school was built in 1973 and utilizes an open-space design concept for classrooms that was popular in the 1970s. The new school, which is being built next to the existing building, is twice as big as the current building and accommodate 485 students, up from the current capacity of 300.

The remainder of the estimated $52 million in construction costs are covered by the Massachusetts School Building Authority. In 2019, it was estimated that the average Danvers homeowner was to pay $157 a year in property taxes to pay for the school.