Schools

Busing Considered if Temporary High School is at Moxley Field, Veterans Group Support Using Site

By |

Ai3 ArchitectsA rendering of what a two-story modular building could look like on Moxley Field. It would be the temporary location for Watertown High School while a new school is constructed. Watertown School officials will look at busing students to the temporary high school and the middle school if modulars are built on Moxley Field, the School Building Committee heard at its meeting on Wednesday. Designers of the new Watertown High School, and the temporary campus, responded to a petition submitted by neighbors of the area near Moxley Field, addressing all the questions raised including: traffic issues, issues with tearing up the field dedicated to a Watertown Marine, stormwater issues and others. See the slide presentation from the meeting by clicking here.

Schools

LETTER: Reconsider Using Moxley Field as the Site for the Temporary High School

By |

Ai3 ArchitectsA rendering of what a two-story modular building could look like on Moxley Field. It would be the temporary location for Watertown High School while a new school is constructed. The following letter was originally sent to the School Building Committee and the Town Council:

The architectural firm working on behalf of the Watertown High School project provided the recommendation to build a temporary high school on PFC Richard Stephen Memorial Playground on Westminster Avenue. It is dedicated to our fallen hero who gave his life in Vietnam. Richie played on this field.

Schools

Design of New High School Changed to Reduce Impact on Neighbors, Drop-off Areas & Parking Discussed

By |

A conceptual design of the preferred option for the New Watertown High School, looking down Common Street toward Mt. Auburn Street. Architects working on the new Watertown High School tweaked the designs to make them less obtrusive to neighbors, and showed potential pickup and drop off areas around the two buildings on either side of Common Street. Ai3 Architects presented the conceptual designs at the fifth Community Forum for the high school project held virtually on Monday night. On Dec.

Building for the Future

Residents Lean Toward New High School on Current Site, Against Renovating School

By |

A rendering of what a new high school could look like if it’s built on the current site and the Phillips School site. In this option, 3D, a bridge would link the buildings on the third floor. Many participants in a virtual forum on the Watertown High School project favored building a new high school on a combination of the current property and the site across the street where the Phillips School sits. They also spoke out against renovating the current school. At the forum held on July 29, architects also discussed a third possibility of putting a new school on part of the Victory Field complex, which did not get much support from attendees of the Zoom meeting.

High School Project

Forum on Watertown High School Planned; Building Committee Doesn’t Like Renovation Option

By |

A mockup of what Watertown High School could look like if the current school was renovated and expanded. A new gym would be built on the Phillips School site, and a parking garage would go on the corner near Barnard Avenue (bottom right). An option of renovating and expanding the existing Watertown High School got bad reactions from the School Building Committee Wednesday night. The committee also saw more details of building a new school on part of the Victory Field complex. The planning for rebuilding or renovating the high school will be discussed further during a virtual Community Forum to be held on Wednesday, July 29 at 6 p.m. During the forum, the public will have a chance to voice its opinions on the options.

Schools

Architects Show Design Ideas for New Watertown High School

By |

A rendering of what a new high school could look like if it’s built on the current site and the Phillips School site. In this option, a bridge would link the buildings on the third floor. The current site, on the right, would be the location of the auditorium, gym, school administrative offices and Senior Center. The School Building Committee saw what a new Watertown High School could look like, including 3-D renderings of buildings that could be built on the two proposed locations for the school. On Wednesday night, Scott Dunlap from Ai3 Architects presented the latest renderings for the high school project during an online meeting.

Building for the Future

Several Options for New High School, All Have Some Headaches

By |

An illustration of how a new high school building with a four story academic wing could fit on the current WHS site. Architect Scott Dunlap stressed this is just a mock up to see if it would fit, not a design. Designers of the new Watertown High School presented several options for how and where new building could be built, but none of the options were simple and all have challenges. Last week, Scott Dunlap, the lead architect from Ai3 Architects, showed the School Building Committee some of the options for how a new high school could be built. With no obvious piece of unoccupied land, all the scenarios require tearing down existing buildings or displacing facilities, such as fields or the Senior Center. At a meeting in December, Dunlap presented some locations, including the existing high school site (both with or without the nearby former-Phillips School), the Victory Field site (both with or without the DPW facility), and Moxley Field.

Schools

Public Will Have Multiple Chances to Give Input on WHS Construction Project

By |

Watertown’s School Building Committee has begun looking at the high school renovation/rebuilding project, and the public will have multiple chances to weigh in, beginning in November. The first public meeting about the Watertown High School project will be held Nov. 19 at a time and place to be announced, Town Council President Mark Sideris announced at Wednesday’s School Building Committee meeting. The School Building Committee learned that the process for the WHS project will be different from the one used for the three elementary schools — the other half of Watertown Public School’s Building for the Future. The high school project is part of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) program, which has many requirements and deadlines to meet.