City Council votes down $11.5M roof renovations for former EHS

By Neil Zolot

In a close 6-5 vote, the City Council rejected a proposal from Mayor Carlo DeMaria to appropriate $11.5 million for a new roof for the old Everett High School (548 Broadway) at their meeting Monday, April 22. “I can’t support this,” Councillor-at-Large Katy Rogers said before voting no along with Councillors-at-Large John Hanlon, Guerline Alcy Jabouin, Michael Marchese and Stephanie Smith, Ward 6 Councillor Peter Pietrantonio and City Council President Robert Van Campen – “I’d need a commitment to the second floor,” a reference to estimates of the $2.5 million plus costs for that renovation that was not part of the question.

“I can’t vote for $11.5 million today and more tomorrow,” Smith added. “I’m against spending $11.5 million without knowing what’s next.”

“We need more detail,” stated Van Campen.

“Once we do the roof, we can look at the rest of the building,” DeMaria reacted. “I tried to surplus the building and was told I couldn’t get rid of it, so we’ve been filling it up. I found uses for the building, and for the last 10 years we’ve been maintaining it. I was told by the City Council to keep it, so we’ve kept it. If you want me to get rid of the building, tell me tonight. A lot of developers would like to see us put up the building for Requests for Proposals; I want to continue the uses we have there. If you don’t do the roof, those will go away” – referring to the Everett Community Health & Wellness Center, the 250 student Webster School Extension preschool program, the Eliot Family Resource Center and storage space for city vehicles and voting equipment, among other things.

This matter was a topic of discussion at meetings in mid-March and early April. Right now, things are up in the air. “We’ll need to evaluate our next steps,” DeMaria’s Chief of Staff, Erin Deveney, said after the meeting. “We don’t have municipal spaces to house the uses, including the city’s own uses, but the mayor is committed to preserving the uses.”

In discussion, Ward 4 Councillor Holly Garcia, who later voted for the appropriation, pointed out that the city is required to provide services to the Webster Extension students. “If the roof doesn’t get done, what happens?” she asked rhetorically.

“If we don’t do the roof, we’ll lose the program we’re mandated to do,” DeMaria agreed. He also mentioned that insurance will expire at the end of the year without a new roof.

“Is there a plan for where we’d house the organizations there now?” Jabouin asked.

“No,” DeMaria answered.

Theoretically, the preschool could be moved to the now unused Pope John High School, but a cost analysis presented by Planning Director Matt Lattanzi said renovating it would cost $31.3 million for work on its roof, HVAC and electrical systems, accessibility and other general repairs.

He also said Pope John is less centrally located in the city and the old High School is better served by public transportation and “doesn’t provide space for the Health and Wellness Center, the Eliot Center, the boxing club or storage.”

There has also been talk about an 8th Grade Academy to alleviate overcrowding in neighborhood K-8 schools, but DeMaria told the Councillors he doesn’t know if School Supt. William Hart wants to house that at Pope John or the old High School if it happens at all.

“The $11.5 million request doesn’t relate to school overcrowding,” Lattanzi added. “It’s not about an 8th Grade Academy. That would be significantly more money. We’d need a cafeteria and different toilets. The $31.3 million for Pope John is to allow preschool students to use an equivalent space as at the old High School. The $11.5 million for the old High School is to maintain its current use and allows for additional appropriations for additional uses.”

“The issue is not between the old High School and Pope John,” Smith feels. “This is a broader conversation of a Master Plan for all our buildings. The garage at the old High School won’t be there forever. We need a new building for storage. We need a full Master Plan for all these buildings. I can’t vote for this until I know about the other buildings.”

DeMaria answered that the cost for new buildings could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. “Until we can realize development of Lower Broadway, I’m not going to give you a plan for $500 million,” he said.

In Public Comment at the outset of the meeting, unsuccessful 2023 Councillor-at-Large candidate David Senatillaka, who was later named to the Charter Review Committee, said the appropriation request for a roof for the old High School “needs to be considered on its own. Pope John is a separate issue. This has become a politicized issue, but we need to look at it holistically. If the roof isn’t replaced, we’ll lose use of a building that is a resource for groups in the city. I hope we won’t be back here in five years trying to rent space from a private company. Even if the roof isn’t replaced and the city maintains ownership of the building, what is the cost of maintaining it?”

In a separate agenda item, Ward 2 Councillor Stephanie Martins asked the administration to share its current economic plan with the City Council as part or separately from a Master Plan. “Do we have an economic plan?” she asked. “I don’t think we have one.”

Earlier she called the old High School “part of Everett’s history. No one wants it torn down, but there’s no way around it. It needs a new roof.”

Van Campen, who ceded the gavel to Smith for parts of the discussion before she ceded it to Marchese, feels the $2.5 million for additional work beyond the roof at the old High School is a low estimate. “I’d like to see more detail if we’re going to repurpose a floor,” he said before the vote. “There’s a lot of uncertainty as to whether you [DeMaria] and the Superintendent are aligned as to the use of Pope John.”

DeMaria confirmed Van Campen’s comment about the cost, but added that the city is seeking grants, including state aid for real estate technical assistance in issuing Requests for Proposals and Interest.

Sensing the mood of the members, Martins motioned the matter be tabled, but only she, Garcia and Ward 3 Councillor Anthony DiPierro voted for that. In discussion of that motion, to no avail DeMaria said, “If we need to take more time, we can do that. I’m good with that.”