Around Town

Bricks from Old High School Available, Lane Closing for Project

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The old Watertown High School has been mostly demolished. This photo, courtesy of Watertown Cable, was taken in late November. The following announcement was provided by Vertex:

Exciting progress continues on the Watertown High School project as the existingbuilding is more than 50% demolished and foundation work has started. Please see below forupdates regarding specific project details. Upcoming Work Affecting Traffic Pattern of Common Street

On Wednesday December 20th contractors will be performing work on Common St.

Around Town

Utility Work on Common Street for High School Starts Monday

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The project managers for the Watertown High School construction project announced that lanes will be closed on Common Street for utility work beginning Monday. The section impacted will be from Columbia Street past Spring Street and Marion Road. The following announcement was provided by Vertex, the owner’s project manager for the WHS project. “Progress associated with the Underground Utility Work surrounding the High School Project Site has been advancing steadily. Work along Common Street has been coordinated to begin today.

Schools

Say Goodbye to Watertown High During Farewell Tour

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The public is invited to take one last look around Watertown high School before it is torn down. Demolition is expected to start over the summer, and a new high school is planned to open in the same location in the spring or fall of 2026 (the temporary location will be Moxley Field — next to the Middle School). The WHS PTSO will hold a WHS Farewell Tour on on June 22 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

RSVP is not required, but appreciated. Suggested donation $10/person, proceeds benefitting the PTSO Scholarship Fund. See more details and RSVP here. https://www.watertownmanews.com/2023/05/19/general-contractor-for-high-school-project-has-good-history-in-town-utility-pole-may-delay-temporary-school/

Schools

General Contractor for High School Project Has Good History in Town, Utility Pole May Delay Temporary School

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Ai3 ArchitectsA rendering of the designs for the new Watertown High School viewed from Columbia Street. The “A Team” will be back together to take on construction of Watertown High School after the School Building Committee voted to award the general contractor contract to Brait Builders this week. After months of climbing construction costs for the high school, the School Building Committee got some good news on Wednesday when Brait’s bid came in just $80,000 over the estimate, for a final bid of $147.96 million. Brait served as the general contractor for two of the three Watertown elementary school projects — Cunniff and Hosmer. Those schools, like WHS, were designed by Ai3 Architects.

Schools

City Officials Look at Ways to Deal with Soaring Cost of Watertown High School Project

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Ai3 ArchitectsA rendering of the designs for the new Watertown High School viewed from Columbia Street. Soaring construction prices have pushed the cost of the new Watertown High School millions above the original estimate, but City Manager George Proakis committed to getting the school built without sacrificing the educational program or the net zero energy design. During his Fiscal Year 2024 Watertown budget presentation on May 9, Proakis gave the City Council an update on the WHS project, and some of the imperfect options for paying for the cost increase. When the Council approved the WHS project in June 2021, the price tag was $198 million. That figure includes building a temporary high school site at Moxley Field and making the school net zero (producing enough energy to cover the amount used by the building).

Around Town

City Manager Discusses Comprehensive Plan, Resident Participation & the High School Project on Watertown Cable Show

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Inside Watertown hosts Bob Airasian, far left, and Charlie Breitrose were joined by City Manager George Proakis and Director of Community Development and Planning Steve Magoon. (Screenshot from Watertown Cable). Watertown City Manager George Proakis talked about the ongoing Comprehensive Plan update, how residents can get involved when projects go before the City, and what’s going on with the Watertown High School project in the latest episode of Watertown Cable’s Inside Watertown. Along with Proakis, co-hosts Charlie Breitrose and Bob Airasian were joined by Steve Magoon, Watertown’s Assistant City Manager and the Director of Community Development and Planning. The City recently held a public forum on the Comprehensive Plan, which is being updated for the first time since it was adopted in 2015.

Schools

Work on Temporary High School Campus at Moxley Field Beginning Soon, Community Meeting Planned

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Ai3 ArchitectsA drawing of the temporary Watertown High School site at Moxley Field. See below for a version that be zoomed-in on. Watertown will be building a new high school building that will be located on the same property as the current school. While the new building is constructed, the school will move to a temporary campus to be located next to Watertown Middle School on the grassy area of Moxley Field. The following information was provided by the Compass Project Management, the consultant hired by the School Building Committee for the Watertown High School project:

We have a very exciting progress update for the Moxley Modular High School Project which is on schedule to start in earnest next week.

Around Town

Council Approves $4 Million to Help Cover Rising Cost of High School Project

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Ai3 ArchitectsAn illustration of what the outside of the new Watertown High School will look like. The cost of constructing the new Watertown High School has risen since the budget was sent to state officials, and one of the steps to cover the gap of $14.47 million was taken Tuesday when the City Council approved transferring $4.175 million

City Council President Mark Sideris, who chairs the School Building Committee, said that the rising cost of construction was a major part of the increase in the project budget over the $138.6 million budget approved by the Massachusetts School Building Authority. “We on the School Building Committee have been working since 2018 on school projects. Our first set of projects went very well, and are still on, or slightly under, budget and came in earlier than expected,” Sideris said. “When we got to the high school COVID happened.