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Date: 8/23/2023
AGAWAM — The Agawam High School Building Committee will host the second of four community forums on the proposed project 6-8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 28, in the Agawam High School library at 760 Cooper St., Agawam.
Attendees will hear updates from the project manager and architects working on the plans, learn about the design and construction timeline, and have a chance to ask questions and give feedback on the plans.
In April 2021, the Massachusetts School Building Authority invited the town to study the feasibility of a high school renovation or replacement, with a percentage of the costs to be reimbursed by the state agency. Agawam hired LeftField LLC as its project manager and Flansburgh Architects to design the building.
This summer, Flansburgh detailed three broad visions for the project: an entirely new 213,000-square-foot building on the site of the current high school; renovating 55,000 square feet of the current AHS and building a 158,900-square-foot addition; or renovating 97,000 square feet and building 116,900 square feet new. MSBA also requires the architect to prepare plans for a minor renovation of the current school, for code compliance only.
The cost, reimbursement eligibility, construction timeline and need to rent temporary “swing space” classrooms depend on which option is selected and how much of the construction work overlaps the current building.
This year and next year, the designers and the School Building Committee will discuss and narrow down the options. Eventually one proposal will be sent to the City Council to vote on whether to proceed with the project. Construction could begin in 2025.
Each of the plans also calls for retaining and renovating part of the old high school as a preschool center, and adding a greenhouse to the high school site. All of the proposed site plans would work around the athletic fields that were renovated in 2016.
The core of the current Agawam High School was built in 1955, with wings added in 1961, 1979 and 1995, and portions renovated in 1979, 2001 and 2016.
Additional forums are planned for Sept. 28 and Oct. 17, at the same time and location. For more information, visit agawamhsproject.com or email agawamhsproject@gmail.com.