Due To Inflation Costs, Woodbridge Not Building New Avenel Elementary

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — At their most recent school board meeting, held last Thursday, Sept. 22, the Woodbridge Board of Education announced the district will not be building a new Avenel Elementary School, something that has been planned for nearly two years.

Construction had already started on a brand-new Avenel Elementary building on Rahway Avenue. But superintendent Joseph Massimino revealed to the public last Thursday night that the architects informed him last week that due to inflation and supply-chain costs, they would have to increase the cost of the project by $15 million.

Due to inflation, the builders said the cost would go up by an 'exasperate amount', said Massimino. Steel, lumber and parts costs have all increased dramatically due to inflation, he said the builders told him.

"The budget of $35 million set (in 2020) would have to be roughly $45 million, almost closer to fifty, by the time we are done with construction," Massimino said. "I, along with the rest of the Board, would never feel comfortable with asking the public to finance another $15 million."

The plan now is to take the money earmarked for the new school and use it to renovate the existing Avenel Elementary. Construction will begin immediately and will continue while students are in the building. Massimino said students should not be affected by construction while students are in the building.

It was a March 2020 referendum where Woodbridge voters were asked to fund the construction of a new Avenel Elementary School. A vast majority of Woodbridge residents said "yes," but the project — which would have been the largest infrastructure project undertaken by the Woodbridge school district in decades — was then immediately put on hold as the pandemic hit the world just days after the bond referendum passed.

Eighteen months later, construction did begin on a new school set aside on six acres on Rahway Avenue, said the superintendent.

But this September, the architects informed the district that costs have skyrocketed:

"The Board and I met with the architects of the new Avenel Elementary School on Rahway Avenue and unfortunately some news from them .... they stated to us they would not be able to complete the project without additional revenue, as well as dramatically changing the scope of the building," he said.

"We are still committed to giving the community of Avenel a new elementary school," promised superintendent Massimino.

Here is video of the Sept. 22 meeting where Massimino breaks the news; watch from 10:10 onwards: