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

  1. Based on this timing it looks like a cohort of the students relocated during upcoming elementary school projects will be displaced once again when they get to high school. Is that accurate?

    • Good question. The other two options (rebuilding on the current site or building on Victory Field) would take 4 and 2 years, respectively. Sounds like the renovation option (5.5 years) is highly unlikely to be the one the Building Committee chooses.
      Looking at a schedule from Feb. Cunniff will be done in Nov. 2021 and Hosmer June 2022. Lowell right now is aiming to be finished by June 2023. Not sure how that works with the elementary students. (Feb presentation – https://drive.google.com/file/d/16DC7_4Qc_mdXQKIulEXN_mk-o-G3Vdp3/view)

  2. A parking garage? In a residential neighborhood. It’s bad enough a monstrosity was permitted to be built at Arsenal Yards –
    Put it underground.
    As for preserving the “historic” part of the high school, that would only include the little used and dysfunctional auditorium and main entrance. Let’s build a smart, net zero energy building that will take us into the 21st century. (2 decades late and counting)
    Better yet, reduce the poorly used DPU space and rethink the expanse. Put the track inside of a stadium that accommodates soccer and baseball, fughetabout tackle football. And build a school complex and campus that can serve students and the community.
    In other words: start from scratch.

  3. After looking at the documents, it was not clear to me that students would be in a new building in every scenario(even using the same sight as existing and Phillips School) in two years. The additional time is to rebuild out the additional space for facilities/senior center/gym. Students would be in a brand new building for all their classes except for some extracurriculars according to the documents.

  4. At 11.1 acres, Victory Field is the third largest park in Watertown. Together with the adjoining Whitney Hill Park, there are over 21 acres of contiguous green space. This large, centrally located multi-use complex is the Town’s most extensive sports and recreation facility. There is no other plot of land in Watertown that provides its residents with such a diverse range of recreational opportunities, such as a walk in the woods or practicing free throws on the basketball court.
    Any open space generated elsewhere by destruction and removal of the old high school would not provide the same benefits to the town residents that they now enjoy in the contiguous open space of Victory Field and Whitney Hill.
    The MSBA program requires to building committee to explore options, the design team has developed a number of options, including using already developed school properties as well as using different parts of Victory Field. There are some very good options that do not impact our open space/recreation areas. The current Victory Field is on land set aside for recreation in 1893, originally called Town Field. Victory Field should remain as a recreation area. The building committee should move forward with the options that utilize the Phillips and High School sites.

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