School Building Committee, Town Department Heads Discuss Town Meeting Date, New Middle School Plans

Town Meeting Date Set

The first agenda item tackled at a large meeting between the Stoneham School Building Committee, town department heads as well as Board of Selectmen chairperson Paul Rotondi and Town Administrator David Ragucci Monday night was the new date for Town Meeting.

“Because of the (Massachusetts School Building Authority) process, the final vote on the new project will not be until Jan. 25,” said School Building Committee chairperson Jeanne Craigie. “Town elections are April 3, therefore, [Town Meeting] has to be within that window so we can avoid the extra costs of having a special election.”

After discussing several dates, Feb. 7 (with a snow date of Feb. 9) was agreed upon by the group for Town Meeting as the most advantageous date. The location for Town Meeting will be Town Hall.

“A lot of people already think we are doing something sly with the change of Town Meeting date,” Rotondi said. “We need to explain to people why the Town Meeting date has changed.”

The Selectmen plan on releasing a detailed press release in the coming months to further explain the need to change this year's Town Meeting date.

Looking at the New Middle School Designs

The next major agenda item targeted by the group was the latest design schematics created by Boston-based firms Tappé Associates and Warner Larson Landscape Architects, the two companies behind the new Stoneham Middle School project designs.

A warrant article was approved by the group that will give Tappé and Warner Larson $50,250 for a feasibility study and to continue updating the schematics.

David Warner, of Warner Larson, led a presentation detailing the latest schematics his company has been working on, asking the group for their insights moving forward with the project.

Warner kicked off his presentation by stating the goal of the new middle school design was to, “make this site feel less urban.”

Working off feedback provided by teachers and students concerning what they enjoy about the current middle school, Warner said the answer he heard most was “the courtyard.” From here, the focus of the meeting was on how to best incorporate the new available green space and get ideas from the group on what else to incorporate for the next phase of schematics.

Many ideas were brought to the table, including the planned 200-space parking lot, outdoor classroom space, full or half-sized basketball courts, outdoor activity space, a stone amphitheater, removable or standard outdoor seating and outdoor gyms.

Concerns were raised on all sides on what to make room for and how best to do it. Should there be more open green space to negate any urban-type feel to the new middle school, or should their be room set aside for additional parking or full basketball courts?

These topics were batted around by the group with no clear direction taken. With Tappé and Warner Larson going before the MSBA to discuss the schematics Tuesday morning, there will be a lull in decision-making while the two companies meet with MSBA officials and find out what can and can't be done on the lot.