Expensive Choices: City Council presented with two proposals for new high school

Pros and cons for building on current school and Wonderland sites

By Barbara Taormina

Brian Dakin, senior project manager for the high school building project, and members of the design and construction team met with the City Council this week with what councillors and many in Revere have been waiting for: a side-by-side comparison of a new school on the existing site and one at Wonderland. Dakin stressed the need to move forward with a decision by the end of the month and said there needs to be agreement among the School Building Committee, the School Committee and the City Council.

Members of the design team showed drawings of interesting and attractive buildings set in both sites. Both plans incorporate goals gathered during public forums and meetings with stakeholders. Both plans begin with a central learning courtyard that encourages community and showcases special programs like robotics and culinary arts. On both sites, four-story academic wings stretch out beyond the courtyard.

The differences between the two plans are related to the sites and their different benefits and challenges. The existing site has an aged culvert that could cost $40 million to replace. If it is damaged by construction, it would bring building to a halt and cost a difficult amount of money in lost time and missed deadlines. Also, because the space at the existing site is limited, only one crane can operate. That slows the progress of the project and pushes the opening of the school out to 2029. Demolition of the existing school and cleanup will also push out the opening of the building.

Wonderland has some conservation reports that need to be completed, but there’s also a $100 million lawsuit from the former owners, who feel the city underpaid them for their property, which was taken by eminent domain.

Building on the existing site means the loss of athletic fields for three to five years. The school would be built on Erricola Park, and Ambrose Field would be covered and used for construction traffic and parking vehicles. Reps from Consigli, the company hired to build the school, said that when they take possession of the site there will be no parking available for teachers or students.

Joe Luen, a retired construction executive who volunteers his time and expertise to help with nonprofit and municipal building projects, told councillors that building at the existing site would cause significant disruption to the neighborhood. And the noise, traffic and glut of construction vehicles will be at the site for three to five years. Luen also pointed out that building on the existing site would disrupt the city’s capital planning by leaving Revere with no space for a middle school and no ability to solve overcrowding at elementary schools.

Although concerns about costs triggered the council’s request for a feasibility study for a new school on the existing site, there wasn’t much talk about money this week. City CFO Richard Viscay and Mayor Patrick Keefe both briefly mentioned a $17 million annual cost to the city but no specifics on where the money would come from. Viscay did say the administration had been making the case for assistance to state officials who are well aware of the stress new school buildings put on municipal budgets.

There was, however, a slide in the presentation that showed a series of financial figures for each project. The total construction cost for a new school at Wonderland was listed as $522,717,901 with a $234,117,356 reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) and $288,600,545 to be paid by Revere. This did not include a possible $100 million judgement in the eminent domain lawsuit. Building at the existing site was estimated at $550,295,868 with a $239,461,932 reimbursement and a $310,833,936 share of the bill for Revere.

Keefe and veteran city councillors were sympathetic to the six new council members who must make a decision on the school by the end of the month without the benefit of three years of debate and discussion.

“You’re faced with this fork in the road and a decision on which direction we take,” said Keefe, who has been a supporter of the Wonderland site.

“I’ll tell you how I got there,” said Keefe. “I listened to the experts.”

Keefe conceded that last year the cost of building at Wonderland was troubling but added that the favorable change in reimbursements from the MSBA had alleviated those concerns.

Keefe told new councillors that staff and officials will be available over the next couple weeks to answer any of their questions. “I want you to make the best decision,” Keefe told them.