Middle School Project to be Submitted Tomorrow

With less than 48 hours to go until the designs for the proposed Middle School Project are submitted to the MSBA, last night’s School Building Committee addressed the next steps in the process.

The cost of the project has been a constant source of debate and the final estimates for the construction are still to be received but they will not be part of the MSBA submission.

The designs for the Middle School Project have been adapted from Whitman Hanson Regional High School  and may be reflected in the approved budget accordingly.

Mary Mahoney, Project Manager, advised the Committee to keep the project plans in place. “You are a hybrid, you should look closer to a High School building because you’re going to shortchange the project budget if you adhere strictly to a Middle School,” she said. 

The building climate when the project goes out to bid early next year could also be a factor in the final cost. The MSBA submission will be based upon a building that covers 176,385 square feet and the price per square foot could range anywhere from $270 to $295 to construct excluding soft costs and unforeseen expenditure.

“It needs to be understood that when we talked about $50-57 million, that was an estimate, said Raymond Estes, Building Committee Chair. "I think we’re going to come in close to that but I don’t know until I see cost estimates from two professional estimators in two weeks time.  The certain time when we know how much it’s going to cost is when it goes out to bid and that’s when we find out what a contractor is willing to build this school for.”

Following the public meetings of last week and feedback from both Selectmen and Hingham residents, the “drum” shaped design of the front of the chool has now been reduced so that the height now complements the other parts of the building. While it still remains a focal point for students entering the school, Ai3’s Jim Jordan took the time to highlight the other aesthetic improvements to the original design.

The detail on the North Side of the school will not be mirrored elsewhere with the South and West facing walls designed in a more economical fashion. Vegetation will be added in some areas to soften the impact of the brick with consideration for snow removal and storage a continuing priority.

The Traffic Study has been completed with the traffic flow for buses and parent drop-off an important aspect of the overall site design. Buses will now queue outside the main entrance to the school with parents able to wait in their cars in front of the gymnasium to pick up their children. The safety of the students has been taken into concern and Middle School Principal Roger Boddie was able to confirm that the school would continue to use a traffic officer so that vehicle circulation is maintained and that cars could not enter the Bus Lane.

The Building Committee will appear in front of the Advisory Committee tonight to discuss the draft warrant article for the proposed Special Town Meeting in October and will meet again once the cost estimates have been received on August 24.