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I The Frank Kelley Roast - Wilmington Town Crier

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MIDDLESEX EAST appearing in Dairy Times - Chronicle (Reading, Woburn, Winchester, burlington, Wakehetd),<br />

lynnneld Villager, No Reading Transcript, <strong>Wilmington</strong> & Tewksbury <strong>Town</strong> <strong>Crier</strong>, Stoneham Independent WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY, AUGUST 10,11, 2005-PAGE SS-3<br />

$68M Woburn<br />

Memorial H.S.<br />

on schedule<br />

-Opening eyed for 2006<br />

By PATRICK BLAIS<br />

WOBURN - <strong>The</strong> last day of classes normally carries<br />

a school district through an almost unnatural summer<br />

calm, but the city's school administration spent these<br />

past few months in frenzied activity.<br />

Overseeing the construction of the new Woburn Me-<br />

morial High School, prepping ior the elimination of<br />

one-bus route at a busy elementary school, and search-<br />

ing for a fix to a facility's leaky roof - and all while<br />

gearing up for a multi-building construction project -<br />

this summer has been anything but quiet for local edu-<br />

cation and city officials.<br />

According to the city's School Building Committee,<br />

the $68 million construction project at the New Woburn<br />

Memorial High School remains on schedule and within<br />

budget, despite some suggestions to the contrary.<br />

Giving an overall assessment of the construction ac-<br />

tivity thus far at the new high school site, Brook Tri-<br />

vas, the city's representative from Tappe Architects,<br />

concluded that the progress at the facility couldn't be<br />

better.<br />

"Big picture, we're doing just about as well as we<br />

could be at this point," Trivas announced at a recent<br />

School Building Committee meeting.<br />

According to Municipal Building Consultant Presi-<br />

dent Patrick Saitta, a contractor hired as the new<br />

WMHS construction manager, he has never seen a<br />

building project hover so tightlv to its budeet schedule.<br />

- North Reading<br />

Looking back, first year<br />

of Batchelder School<br />

relocation a success<br />

By MARYANNE SOUCY<br />

In the summer of 2004, the<br />

NORTH READING - <strong>The</strong><br />

old Batchelder School was<br />

first year of the two-year<br />

emptied and transported to<br />

relocation of North Reading's<br />

the Central School in Stone-<br />

Batchelder School communiham,<br />

which is North Reading<br />

ty is history* and in less than<br />

is leasing for the duration of<br />

a month students, faculty and<br />

the construction process.<br />

parents will return for the In order to avoid confustart<br />

of another term.<br />

sion, the school also took it's<br />

Looking back, it's pleasname<br />

along with it during the<br />

move, turning the rented<br />

antly surprising that the reloschool<br />

building into the Batcation<br />

process went on without<br />

a hitch, despite what many<br />

chelder School in Stoneham.<br />

had anticipated.<br />

Teachers, parents and<br />

In fact, at a recent North<br />

school department staff all<br />

Reading School Committee<br />

pitched-in to make the move<br />

meeting, it was noted that of<br />

possible. Principal Sean<br />

all five schools in town, it was<br />

Killeen scheduled a commuthe<br />

Batchelder School that was<br />

nity day for parent volunteers<br />

"heard from the least" throuwho<br />

gave the classrooms a<br />

ghout the 2004-2005 school year<br />

fresh coat of paint.<br />

and most would agree that<br />

In addition to the parents,<br />

that's a-good thing.<br />

the community day proved a<br />

After years of delay and<br />

huge success largely through<br />

controversy, North Reading the efforts of Moynihan Lumvoted<br />

$18.5 million for a total ber, which donated the paint,<br />

renovation, reconstruction and along with Goddard's Paintexpansion<br />

of the Batchelder ing Service, which donated the<br />

School, the town's oldest which man-power.<br />

is located in the center of<br />

Last year's smooth transitown.<br />

tion was a credit to all, ac-<br />

Due to the massive scope<br />

cording to Venezia. And now,<br />

of the work, it was necessary<br />

with the school community<br />

to vacate the school for two settled in to the temporary<br />

full years while construction<br />

facility, he anticipates a seccrews<br />

construct the new and<br />

ond successful year.<br />

improved Batchelder School<br />

<strong>The</strong> adjustment to the temthe<br />

original location.<br />

porary school building was<br />

"Looking back, this has<br />

aided, according to Killeen,<br />

been a huge success," said by the fact that the students en-<br />

School Committee Chairman joy the gymnasium and other<br />

Gerald Venezia.<br />

facilities at the Stoneham<br />

Winchester from SS-2<br />

that Could be used.<br />

School Committee Chair-<br />

man Kathleen Bo,die said,<br />

"We could be in a situation<br />

where you might want to<br />

build a new hign school, but<br />

there is just no place to put<br />

it."<br />

If a new high school is<br />

in Winchester and around<br />

the state have reached the<br />

end of their useful life. In<br />

addition, the typical re-<br />

sponse to Proposition 2 1/2<br />

was to defer building main-<br />

tenance.<br />

If <strong>Town</strong> Meeting votes to<br />

fund the demographic<br />

study, .geologic analysis<br />

and feasibility study then<br />

not a possibility then an ar- each will proceed and a de-<br />

chitect could draw up plans tailed timeline will be de-<br />

for renovation of the exist- veloped for the completion<br />

ing building. of the next elementary<br />

If the decision is to reno- school and for a new or<br />

vate the high school other renovated high school,<br />

choices are likely to follow.<br />

Will it be possible to reno-<br />

vate the school while stu-<br />

dents are in the building? If<br />

not — where will the stu-<br />

dents go during renovation?<br />

Other questions need to<br />

be answered such a cost<br />

analysis of new construc-<br />

tion versus renovation, and<br />

how long would a major<br />

renovation take as opposed<br />

to'putting up a new build-<br />

ing.<br />

"It's a huge decision for<br />

the town," Marini said at<br />

the School Committee meet-<br />

ing. Marini said, as other ad-<br />

ministrators have pointed<br />

out in the past; it is a com-<br />

bination of factors that has<br />

led the town to face such<br />

expensive problems. Basi-<br />

cally, many of the buildings<br />

Elaborating on that claim, Saitta pointed to the fact<br />

that as of this July, the city has spent about half of the<br />

funding allocated for the estimated $68.4 million pro-<br />

ject. Mirroring that figure, the new WMHS currently<br />

stands about 52 percent complete, meeting the con-<br />

struction timetable for a 2006 opening date.<br />

"<strong>The</strong> high school at this point is 52 percent com-<br />

plete. We conclude that it's on schedule and at<br />

budget," said Saitta.<br />

As the giant hulk of a building continues to fit more<br />

and more of its« components together for a 2006 opening<br />

date, Woburn Mayor John Curran happily acknowl-<br />

edged the city's receipt of a $10.9 million reimburse-<br />

ment check from the Massachusetts School Building<br />

Authority (MSBA) for the district's completion of<br />

three previous school construction projects.<br />

Utilizing the funds to pay off the city's short-term<br />

debt and part of the bonds taken out for the work, the<br />

Mayor and school officials continue developing an am-<br />

bitious plan to commence a multi-school construction<br />

project once the MSBA lifts its moratorium on new de-<br />

velopments.<br />

"We wouldn't move ahead until then [the official re-<br />

instatement of the SBA program]," the Mayor said af-<br />

ter pitching the plan to several of the state agency's<br />

officials. "But if we're able to secure funding from<br />

other sources, that will be a way for us to move ahead.<br />

And we're looking at all the options. Our biggest con-<br />

cern right know is that construction prices keep grow-<br />

ing."<br />

AjBbording to School Committee member Joseph<br />

CrotyleyTtoho sits on the Resource Utilization subcom-<br />

mittee — and thus meets regularly with city and<br />

school officials on the district's parity plan — the pro-<br />

posal to build multiple schools at once seems the best<br />

way to achieve equality among Woburn's aging<br />

schools.<br />

With the parity plan aimed at finding the quickest<br />

and least expensive way to replace the aging infra-<br />

structure at the six remaining elementary schools, the<br />

reasons for that quest was underscored by news of a<br />

leaky roof at the Wyman Elementary School.<br />

Opting against an expensive capital project, school<br />

officials decided this summer to repair the slate roof<br />

through an inexpensive patch-up job.<br />

Admitting that the temporary fix isn't the ideal way<br />

to deal with the problem — which has resulted in wa-<br />

ter collecting in-between some of the school's walls —<br />

School Committee member Joseph Crowley explained<br />

that the city simply can't afford a complete roof over-<br />

haul.<br />

"Basically, all we can do at this point is patch it up<br />

and try to get through this year. So we're going to<br />

grind it out and see if the mayor can get a couple<br />

bucks for us," Crowley said.<br />

"It's very aggravating," added the School Commit-<br />

tee member, an outspoken opponent of annual "patch-<br />

work" repairs instead of "fix-all" capital projects that<br />

solve the problem once and for all. "You're just<br />

throwing money away. But you also need to make<br />

sure that tiles aren't going to fall on anybody or that<br />

mold isn't going to grow."<br />

Discovering water damage in-between several of<br />

the aging school's walls last spring, school mainte-<br />

nance crews originally feared that the festering mois-<br />

ture had led to the growth of mold.<br />

However, during the School Committee's last meet-<br />

ing of the 2005 school year, Business Manager Joe Elia<br />

announced that environmental testing of the area had<br />

revealed some rot, but no mold development.<br />

With his hands already full with the Wyman roof,<br />

Elia is similarly dealing with the elimination of a bus<br />

route from the elementary school this upcoming school<br />

year.<br />

Running a "dry run" to observe the school corn-<br />

mute's traffic flow in the area without the bus, police<br />

and school officials were encouraged by the exercise.<br />

According to the Business Manager, traffic patterns<br />

at the local school flowed well during the practice test,<br />

which was scheduled to identify potential problems<br />

with the increased vehicular flow at the building's<br />

drop-off and pick-up zones before next year's school<br />

year.<br />

school building, which is<br />

quite the improvemenl over<br />

their former school<br />

Killeen also explained that<br />

the Stoneham community has<br />

been very welcoming I" the<br />

out-of-town students staff<br />

, and families.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Batchelder communi-<br />

ty has even done its part to<br />

make their bus drivers feel<br />

appreciated due to the extra<br />

distance they drive on a daily<br />

basis - the school designated<br />

a special day to recognized<br />

the bus drivers.<br />

Although everyone involved<br />

has gone all-out to make the<br />

move a success, Venezia assu-<br />

red parents that it's all just<br />

temporary.»<br />

Anyone who has driven<br />

through the center of North<br />

Reading recently can see that<br />

the construction project is<br />

progressing rapidly and to<br />

date, the project remains on-<br />

track for a completion in 2006<br />

- just in time for the begin-<br />

ning of the 2005-2007 school<br />

year<br />

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However, Elia also noted that the smooth running<br />

exercise could have been due to the presence of police<br />

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with school officials in the morning and afternoon<br />

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"It went okay," Elia recalled. "I think when people<br />

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"But when school comes back in session, we'll make<br />

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