School Building Committee to look at Building Designs for Middle School

The School Building Committee has planned to visit four model schools this week to prepare for the designer selection process for the .

The committee will visit Middle Schools and High Schools in Hudson, Ashland, Ipswich, and Whitman-Hanson from May 11-13 and will examine the infrastructure and school models to gain ideas for the construction of a new Hingham Middle School in the future.

“Everyone is very eager about this,” said School Committee member Raymond Estes. “I’m very interested to see models because I have only seen photos.”

At the April 25 Town Meeting, Hingham residents voted in favor of  a $600,000 study for a new middle school. The Hingham will now receive a feasibility study and move forward with plans to improve conditions at the aging school. With Hingham resident’s approval , the town  can now spend an estimated $600,000 for a feasibility study on replacing , under the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s Model School Program. 

According to town reports, the school district will expect to receive 30 to 45 percent reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the $50 million to $57 million project.

Plans to build a new school are not definite until the study is completed.  It is still undecided whether Hingham will construct a new school, renovate the existing school, or replace parts of the current building.

Hingham Schools Superintendent Dr. Dorothy Galo said that the school visits this week may not be the same designs as what architects will  present to the committee in the future but they will give the committee a sense of the quality of work and designs.

On May 18-19, the School Building Committee will meet with four designers who will each get 45 minutes to an hour to show committee members how they can adapt their design to the Hingham location.