Future of former high school building discussed at community meeting

By Neil Zolot

Residents living near the old Everett High School at 548 Broadway, and many City Councillors, feel current occupants of the building should not be there if and when it is renovated to house 7th and 8th grade classes. “I understand the need for a school, but it should be only a school,” Maple Avenue resident Steve Meninger said at a community meeting sponsored by Mayor Carlo DeMaria on a $76 million plan for alterations on February 26 in the City Council Chamber.

“There are too many uses in the building disrupting the neighborhood,” Ward 5 Councillor Robert Van Campen, said in reference to the Eliot Family Resource Center and a boxing club, among other current occupants of the building. “I’d be hard pressed to vote to allocate funds if the disruptive uses are still in the building. Can we get to a point where they’re relocated?”

“We are in dire need of this, but a school should be a school,” Councillor-at-Large Stephanie Smith added.

One of the specific concerns is traffic. Meninger said that during food giveaways at the Eliot Family Resource Center and other events “people park anywhere” on Maple Avenue and surrounding streets.

Maple Avenue resident Judeleen Modestin is worried about congestion at the beginning and end of a school day and suggested police be present at those times. “There’s a lot going on there,” she said. “Can we move some occupants to another building?”

“We all know schools cause traffic problems,” Ward 6 Councillor Peter Pietrantonio added. “Parents don’t care where they park. Maple will be backed up to Broadway.”

DeMaria acknowledged these issues. “I agree it should mostly be a school,” he said. “When they distribute food or give away backpacks, it’s a tough area. Eventually we’ll look at how to relocate them. We need to find a place for them.”

He mentioned the former Pope John High School, 888 Broadway, the section facing Lafayette Street, as a temporary site for the occupants, but reiterated it will never be a school and was bought for affordable, elderly and/or veterans housing.

Eliot Family Resource Center is a special case. They are in Everett voluntarily and could relocate to any community in their service area, including Malden.

He also said that if 7th and 8th graders are moved from neighborhood schools to the old Everett High School, pre-Kindergarten, now at the Adams School on Tileston Street, could be relocated to the neighborhood schools and free up space there.

Unsurprisingly, some comments and questions veered from the subject at hand. Ward 2 School Committee member Joanna Garren asked about overcrowding at the current High School, even though renovating the old High School will not and is not intended to address that problem. “Is anything being done now?” she asked.

DeMaria told her the City is working with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to conduct a Feasibility Study on a location and secure aid.

He later explained his informal Master Plan to build a new High School with a vocational education element somewhere in the city, convert the current High School to a Middle School, eventually repurpose the old High School from housing 7th and 8th grades and have K-5 or K-6 neighborhood schools able to serve less students more efficiently because they’ll have more space. “These are fluid plans,” he said. “This project is part of a bigger picture.”

It’s been tried before, but nothing in Everett is done without difficulty. DeMaria said that about a decade ago the City applied for funds for a new Middle School, but there was no agreement on an appropriate location and the project fizzled out.

When Modestin asked about traffic, DeMaria reacted. “It’s good to hear someone talk about valid points.”

The long-term plans will take years to implement. It will take up to a year for construction plans for the old High School to be drawn up with another 14 months for construction and at least five years for the same process for a new High School at a cost of who-knows-what. DeMaria acknowledged everything may be beyond the City’s means.

Mount Vernon group architects Frank Tedesco and Adolpho Cuevas presented plans for how the building might be reconfigured, but the plans are only conceptual, although they did outline how current occupants of the building would be separated from the school area. “We were asked to show how it could look,” Tedesco said. “The City will decide what goes in there. During the design there’ll be interaction with the community.”

The initial cost of the renovation was slated at $72 million, but in December it rose to $79 million. “It will go up and we need a comprehensive study with numbers to bring to the City Council,” Pietrantonio feels.

“The only way to get a set cost is with construction plans,” DeMaria responded. “Once we get a full set of drawings, we’ll get a bid and a price. Once we have valid documents and a valid estimate we’ll know the cost. If it’s too expensive and the City Council decides we can’t do it, we won’t do it.”

“There is no simple solution for overcrowding in the schools, but using the old High School is a great start,” said Councillor-at-Large Katy Rogers. “I support the old High School being a school again, but there are a lot of moving parts. We need to address this issue beyond one project.”

“I was glad we were able to hear from the neighborhood,” DeMaria said after the meeting. “I believe everybody understands the importance of the functions now in the building, but wants to see them elsewhere.”