Forum to update progress toward new high school

Date: 11/3/2010

Nov. 3, 2010

By Katelyn Gendron

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD -- School Superintendent Russell Johnston, Mayor Edward Gibson and Strategic Building Solutions Project Manager Jon Winikur will host a forum next week to update the public on the high school building project.

The Nov. 8 forum will notify parents, students and members of the public on the Massachusetts School Building Authority's (MSBA) model school program, which highlights three building options for the district. Johnston and Gibson visited the model schools -- Ashland High School, Hudson High School and Whitman-Hanson Regional High School -- last month.

The Planning and Construction Committee (PCC) will interview the three model school architects on Nov. 16 to determine which design will be best for the district's new 226,000 square-foot high school. Presentations will be made by Ai3, designers of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, The Mount Vernon Group, the firm responsible for Ashland High School, and Symmes Maini McKee and Associates, designers of Hudson High School.

When asked when construction would begin, Gibson replied, "At this point, we really don't know other than the fact that we definitely will be getting a new high school in some way, shape or variety after the Planning and Construction Committee picks an architect.

"No matter which of the three schools [we build], it's extremely important we receive a new high school because [the current high school] was built at a different time. It's very spread out, [it's] not energy efficient and has security problems," he continued.

"The [carbon] footprint of the model schools was about 50 to 60 percent of what the existing school is. This is going to take us into the 21st century and allow for modern education and improve the health and safety of the teachers and students," Gibson added.

The MSBA's timeline is "very aggressive," he noted, adding that works to the district's benefit in order to "take advantage of the very competitive construction market."

Gibson estimated the new high school will cost approximately $75 million.

The Nov. 8 public forum will take place at the West Springfield High School Upper Learning Center Commons from 7 to 8 p.m.

The public is also welcome to the PCC's Nov. 16 meeting in the high school's library.

For additional information, visit www.wsps.org/web and click on the "Building Project" slide.