City Council, Mayor discusses future use of old Everett High School

By Neil Zolot

The City Council voted to table a request for $11,400,000 for improvements, primarily a new roof, at the old Everett High School (548 Broadway) in an irregularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, March 13.

“Something more solid about what the future of the space would be would allay any concerns about future expenditures,” Councillor-at-Large Katy Rogers added. “Some of us are concerned about what issues might come up in the future. I don’t want to see an $11 million Band-Aid, but look at this as part of a greater project. It is an asset to the city and we have great programming we don’t want to lose,” a reference to the preschool, boxing club and Eliot Family Resource Center housed there.

Mayor Carlo DeMaria has a plan to use the money to fix the roof and possibly the heating system if the roof work comes in under budget and lease or sell the currently unoccupied top floors to developers, who would assume responsibility for its rehabilitation, and allow the current users to stay put. “My intention is to request proposals from developers for the unoccupied space in the building,” he said. “In the current market, reuse of current parcels is more economical than new construction. It’s an asset. I think we can fix the asset and see who’s interested. There’s a lot of significance in the building and a lot of value in it to people. You can ‘build the building.’ We’ll try to keep it under $11 million, and money left over can be used for the heating system and to remove hazardous material. A lot of developers would love to bid on it. I have good relationships with the building trades in the state and I’ll work my contacts.”

The mayor stated that he was not sure exactly what rehabilitated space might be used for, but mentioned it could be used to house the Police Dept. when their station is being repaired or rebuilt on the current site, and the auditorium could be restored and used for public and private functions. “We have some good reuses that would go away,” he stated – if the building should be closed. “Eliot couldn’t stay there and the boxing program keeps kids off the street,” something acknowledged by Ward 3 Councillor Anthony DiPierro.

“It seems like an asset to the community and gets good use out of the groups there,” DiPierro said about the building. “The basement of City Hall isn’t large enough for Eliot.”

DiPierro cited a 2019 study indicating that the cost to raze the building was estimated at nearly $11 million. He asked the mayor what the cost would be now. “I’d say four times that,” was the answer.

In Public Comment at the outset of the meeting, Eliot Director of Community Engagement Liliana Patino testified, “A new location would limit the services we provide. Even if we stay in the city, the majority of our services would be impacted, including food distribution.”

DiPierro asked what would become of the pre-K. “You don’t have it,” DeMaria answered while adding that 50-60 kids out of the 240-260 kids at the old EHS could be transferred to the Devens School.

“We’re not trying to evict anyone or end programming,” City Council President Robert Van Campen reacted. The building is in Ward 5, prompting him to cede the president’s gavel to Councillor-at-Large Stephanie Smith for the discussion.

Van Campen also wanted to know what the cost of a retrofit would be to use currently unused space as public school classrooms to alleviate overcrowding in the schools. “That’s the open question,” he feels. “We’ve got this white elephant of the space issue in the schools and the old EHS and the former Pope John High School underutilized. A tremendous amount of opportunity is being lost in those two buildings.”

“Could we use space for classrooms?” DeMaria responded rhetorically. “I’m open to that, but there will be a cost. I don’t want to, but I’d rather do that than use Pope John. Using Pope John will cost $80 million and I’m trying to limit the amount of money were spending. I’d rather get it to a developer who pays taxes and repurpose it for housing for seniors and veterans and pay the note off.”

Ward 6 Councillor Peter Pietrantonio later asked if part of the old EHS could be torn down, while leaving other parts for the current users to use, and Pope John could be used to relieve overcrowding, also promoting DeMaria’s response about associated costs.

Ultimately, he wants a new High School to be built and to, presumably, convert the current one to a Middle School and move grades 6-8 out of neighborhood schools. That process could take years, if it happens at all, at a cost of $500 million or more, although the city would receive some help from the state.

Everett is one of the very few school systems with kindergarten to 8th grade neighborhood schools, although at one time the Parlin School was a Junior High. The 2019 closure of Pope John and the age of the old EHS prompted the building of the current High School in 2007 and eventually led to K-8 neighborhood schools.

Looming over all this like a Sword-of-Damocles is the fact that insurance companies won’t cover the building unless it’s repaired and the window of opportunity is short. “Current efforts are no longer sufficient to continue to insure the building and the policy expires in January 2025,” DeMaria reported. “We could continue patching, but the insurance company said you can’t. You have to repair the roof. It’s a recruitment being imposed on us. All I’m asking is to keep the insurance and keep programs running. I believe residents who rely on the space should continue to have the option of accessing the services they need. Now residents don’t have to go outside the city for those services. This is a one-time ask. Do I need more money to maintain the building? No. I won’t come to you for more money unless you want to use it for another purpose.”

“We have 10 months to figure out if the old EHS is part of our plan,” Van Campen offered, to which Director of Facilities Maintenance Angelo Febbo responded, “If you miss this window, prices will go up. We won’t be able to begin the work in June and you can’t do a roof project in the winter.”

As Smith tried to wind things down, DiPierro noted that Councillor-at-Large John Hanlon, Ward 1 Councillor Wayne Matewsky and Ward 2 Councillor Stephanie Martins were not at the meeting. “We owe it to our colleagues not here that they be part of this discussion and to tour the upper floors,” he said, in reference to a lower-floors-only tour members took Monday, March 4.

DeMaria agreed. “You should,” he said, while mentioning that the members will have to fill out liability forms.