Schools

Alcott/Thoreau School Building Committee

Frederick Wersan, Chair
Jefferey Adams
Andrew Berman
Franklin Cannon
Ian Gillespie
Kathryn Rothermel
Christopher Sgarzi
James B. Terry
Jerry Wedge
David Anderson, Ex Officio

2006 was an eventful year for the Alcott/Thoreau School Building Committee and Concord Public Schools. The new Thoreau School opened to students, the old Alcott School building was demolished and Phase II of the Alcott project neared completion.

Construction at Thoreau was completed in the spring of the year. In June, immediately after the end of the school year, Thoreau materials were transferred from their temporary location in the old Alcott building back to the new school. Furniture and other new furnishings were delivered throughout the summer and the school opened to students in September.

Meanwhile, the old Alcott was demolished and site work began. The fields were graded, a new playground was installed, and the driveway and parking areas were developed. The driveways were paved in October and opened to use. At this point, the temporary entrance from Walden Street was removed. As the year drew to a close, Phase II was complete except for some site work that will need to be done in the Spring of 2007.

Simultaneously with the Phase II work, cooling equipment was installed at Alcott to help prevent future classroom overheating such as that experienced at the school in June 2005.

Most of the work of the committee has now been accomplished. The remaining work is the site work at Alcott and installation of cooling equipment at Thoreau, scheduled for next summer.

Willard School Building Committee

Pat Nelson co-chair
Jerry Wedge co-chair
Dave Anderson
Scott Bates
Philip Benincasa
Frank Cannon
Pat Fernandes
Brenda Finn
Ted Hanselman
Richard Keleher
Tony Logalbo
James B. Terry
Christopher Whelan

Town meeting appropriated $1,840,000 for architectural and engineering services for plans and specifications for the construction of a new Willard School. Following this, the Board of Selectmen adopted a charge for the Willard School Building Committee. The committee was charged to coordinate and facilitate the design and eventual construction of the new Willard Elementary School.

The following activities have taken place:

• A Statement of Interest was submitted to the Massachusetts State Building Authority (msba) by the School Committee.

• The Willard Building Committee charge was clarified to establish that the project is moving forward during the State's moratorium on school building funding and that the Willard Building Committee will monitor the steps and actions required by the msba in order to maximize the Town's opportunity to have this project deemed eligible under the School Building Assistance program.

• A draft timeline for the project proposes that a Special Town Meeting to vote construction funds takes place in the fall of 2007, construction begins March 2008, and the Willard School opens September 2009.

• Establishment of liaison sub-committee to the msba.

• Establishment of a community input sub-committee.

• Establishment of an educational specifications sub-committee.

• Daedalus Projects, Inc. of Boston selected to act as the Owner's Project Manager.

• Selection of a design firm will occur in early 2007.