Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 10/24/2023
HOLYOKE — In another step toward a new middle school in Holyoke, Mayor Joshua Garcia and Superintendent Anthony Soto participated in the first steps of demolition work at the William R. Peck Middle School on Oct. 17.
Garcia did the honors of pulling down the first pieces of the building, as it will be totally demolished before efforts continue to build the new 550-student middle school that meets the needs of modern education on the existing site. Garcia and Soto were joined by School Building Committee members, city of Holyoke and Holyoke Public Schools employees and contractors.
The $85.5 million project was officially approved in June by the city of Holyoke and the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The school was vacated in June.
“I do want to quickly just thank everybody that’s been involved in this process in the last couple of years from the school administration, members of the school board, all members of our council. More importantly, the members of the public came together which means now we get to move forward with knocking down the inefficient building off the Peck site right behind me,” Garcia said.
Soto said as a former student of Peck Middle School he has a lot of sentimental value for the building being demolished, but added he was happy to see it come down as it is leading to a positive addition to the district.
“Our students have the opportunity to attend a brand-new state-of-the-art middle school. I appreciate the collaboration with the School Committee and the Building Committee and members of the city council that supported this project,” Soto said. “It sends a real strong message to our kids and our community that we as a city value you and we’re willing to invest in you and your future.”
At-Large School Committee member Erin Brunelle, also a former student at Peck, added she was excited to be moving forward with the project after years of debate on the best project for the city.
“I feel like we’ve been fighting this fight for a decade to try and get a new building here in the city, and I cannot wait to welcome students,” Brunelle said.
Following these statements, Garica hopped in the excavator on site to pull down the first pieces of the building and mark the start of demolition.
With the upcoming complete demolition of the building, the district has taken steps to honor memories and artwork of the existing Peck building, which has served the community for almost 50 years. Two murals placed at the school’s entrance in 2010 have become symbolic of its history.
While these murals are only being preserved through photographs, the district anticipates creating a photo replica of the murals in the new school building. The ceramic tile murals were created during an after-school program and each tile represented notable school moments or individuals.
The abatement, demolition and site-leveling work is being completed by American Environmental Inc., a Holyoke-based company that submitted the lowest of five bids. This phase of the work is expected to be completed by December.
Led by the consultant team of Mount Vernon Group Architects and Anser Advisory, the city of Holyoke submitted the required 60% construction document to the MSBA in late August. The building project is planned to go to bid in late November and is on schedule.
The next steps for the rest of this school year are:
November 2023: Advertise for construction bids in two stages: filed sub-bids followed by general contractor bids.
December 2023: Complete demolition of existing Peck School.
December 2023: Complete construction documents and submit to MSBA.
Early 2024: Open bids, select lowest qualified bidder.
February 2024: Begin construction.
The city will be responsible for approximately $40 million of the $85.5 million project and the MSBA will reimburse approximately $46 million. City officials reiterated before the demolition that the new school building is an important component of Holyoke’s efforts to strengthen learning opportunities and reimagine the middle school experience.
More information on the project is available at www.hps.holyoke.ma.us/page/new-middle-school.