Forest Park Middle School Renovation
February 3, 2012
SPRINGFIELD – The School Building Commission on Thursday authorized interior demolition work and environmental cleanup at the Forest Park Middle School as part of a $43.4 million renovation-expansion project.
The demolition within the building and cleanup will cost approximately $1.1 million. This was the low bid received, and was approximately $500,000 less than expected, said Rita L. Coppola-Wallace, the city's director of capital asset construction.
The contractor is American Environmental Inc. of Holyoke.
The unanimous vote to move forward with the work was "extremely critical" for a project that is under a very tight schedule, Coppola-Wallace said. Extensive renovations and construction of a building addition will follow, and the school is slated to reopen in September of 2013.
The interior work follows the recent demolition of four houses and a commercial property adjacent to the school by Associated Building Wreckers of Springfield. Associated was hired after submitting the low bid of $147,717.
The houses were demolished at 121, 125 and 132 Garfield St., and at 47 Sumner Terrace, and the former Sam's Restaurant at 370 Belmont Ave., was also razed.
The Forest Park school construction project is approved for 90 percent state reimbursement by the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
In other action, the School Building Commission voted to approve a contract with Morganti/Aquadro & Cerruti as construction manager for renovations and/or new possibly new construction at the tornado-damaged Elias Brookings Elementary School on Hancock Street. The Mary Dryden Veterans Memorial School on Surrey Road is slated for repair and addition of the tornado damaged north wing. The cost for pre-construction services for both of these projects is $150,909.
An estimated $10 million to $12 million renovation project is planned at the Dryden School, which was damaged in the June 1 tornado. In addition, local officials are proposing construction of a new school to replace the heavily damaged Brookings School, seeking support and financial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Massachusetts School Building Authority, Coppola-Wallace said.
"The design for Dryden is moving along very well," Coppola-Wallace said. "We need to get Brookings on the same schedule and hopefully we will be able to do this shortly as the decisions are made to go forward with a new school."
Coppola-Wallace also informed the local School Building Commission that construction of the new Roger L. Putnam Vocational-Technical High School remains more than a month ahead of schedule, and roughly $6 million under budget.
The groundbreaking occurred in May of 2010, and Putnam is slated to open in September of 2012.
The commission meeting was conducted at the Barney Carriage House at Forest Park.