MONTAGUE — Ahead of the next public information session in May, the School Committee for Franklin County Technical School discussed the proposal to construct a new high school on Wednesday, including schematic design changes that reduced costs from an initial $246 million to $236.6 million.
The committee heard from Julie Spence and David Harris Jr. of Lavallee Brensinger Architects and Tim Alix of Colliers, the owner’s project management firm. They shared that at the end of February, the schematic design was sent to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and comments from the MSBA were “very light.”
The next milestone will be final approval of the schematic design and cost by the MSBA during its board meeting at the end of the month.
Cost update
Spence explained that the design of the building has been adjusted to reduce the total size from 220,000 to 211,075 square feet, making the building floor plan “tighter and more efficient” while not impacting educational space and getting the most cost benefit.
“Through this design process, we were able to reduce the corridors and eliminate any excess spaces wherever possible,” Spence said.
The initial cost estimate of $246 million, which was presented during the preferred schematic report phase of the project last summer, has been reduced by $9.4 million after costs were reevaluated as part of the ongoing schematic design phase.
Additionally, the minimum amount the member towns will need to contribute has been updated to $122.8 million, which was previously estimated at a $125 million minimum. The maximum grant amount that the MSBA will reimburse will be $113.8 million. Ultimately, this represents a 48% to 52% split of the total project cost between what the state is covering and what will be covered by the district, according Alix.
‘Huge numbers’
Still, even with this reduction in cost, Alix shared that these are “huge numbers we’re talking about.”
“We’re talking about [the new school] being as efficient as possible, and trying to get the numbers down as much as we can, to make a practical, functional space that meets your needs,” he said, “and unfortunately, this is what these types of buildings cost in the state.”
District leadership has stressed the need for this new building and the opportunity for the community to receive state support through reimbursements. In March, an electrical switchgear at Franklin Tech failed, risking a prolonged power outage that was avoided with a temporary fix. Between this and other issues inside the 50-year-old facility, Superintendent Richard Martin has said that bringing everything up to code could cost $103 million, with no reimbursements to cover the expense. At the February information session, School Committee Chair Richard Kuklewicz helped frame the value the school brings to the community and said the new building would continue that legacy.
Alix said the new school is sitting at a competitive level compared to the other MSBA projects that have been accepted into the program, based on historical MSBA project data.
“Even though these projects involve high schools, middle schools, elementary schools and some tech schools, our project is still extremely competitive for lower dollar per square foot than the other projects that are going on,” he said.
The public will have another opportunity to weigh in on the project during an information session on Tuesday, May 12, at 6 p.m. at Greenfield Community College. School Committee members, district leadership and representatives from the design team will take questions.
In the fall, the 19 member towns will vote on the new building proposal in a town-wide election. If it is passed by all the towns, the project will continue down the design and development track from October 2026 to February 2027, followed by project bidding between October 2027 and early 2028, when groundbreaking is expected to commence. Occupancy of the new building is slated for 2030.
