For the fourth time this year Watertown Public School officials applied to have the renovation Watertown High School partially funded by the state, and this time the project has caught the eye of state officials who will come take a closer look at the aging campus.
While WHS has not yet been invited to be part of the MSBA program, in which close to half the cost would be reimbursed by the state, Superintendent Dede Galdston said she is excited to see it being considered.
“A group from the state will come to the district to interview people and have an architect come look at the building to determine if it’s one of the buildings that will get funding,” Galdston told the School Committee Monday night. “It is pretty exciting we made the first cut.”
If the school makes the list of schools to be accepted into the state program, the work really begins for Watertown officials. The town would have to form a school building committee within 60 days, create an educational profile within 90 days, and provide documentation of the district’s maintenance practices and decided how many students the school should accommodate within 180 days.
Within 270 days the community must vote to appropriate and authorize funding for the full amount of the project’s feasibility study, including the MSBA’s share.
If the feasibility study funding is approved, the MSBA’s Board of Directors will vote on whether to invite Watertown to enter a Feasibility Study.
After receiving the invitation into the program, then the project will go through schematic design and the town must get approval for funding the construction. If approved, detailed designs can be made and construction can finally go ahead.
I’m wondering if Watertown is better off with a completely new High School.
Yes, others have had the same thoughts. State officials will look at that option, too. The biggest problem with building a new school is where to put it, or if they put it in the same spot where the students would go during construction. The current idea is to completely redo the interior, including taking down and moving some walls, but keeping the outside largely the same.
I am not being facetious, why cant it be built next to victory field? Last available space in town. Tear down old high school and make that new fields?
Isn’t this an anon comment? Why isn’t your policy consistent?
I do allow one anonymous comment per story, unless they are being abusive toward others.