EAST LONGMEADOW — The East Longmeadow High School building project remains on track physically and financially with progress in August expected to continue focusing on the required enabling work that began in June, according to recent updates.
A budget and scheduling update was presented by representatives from Skanska USA Building, SMMA, Fontaine Bros. and Jones Whitsett Architects during the July 23 East Longmeadow School Building Committee meeting. At the meeting, the committee also voted to approve the Massachusetts School Building Authority submission for the 60% completion of construction documents.
“[I’m] happy to report that we are still on budget,” Skanska Project Manager Ben Murphy said at the meeting. He explained that the budget update would be reported to the MSBA as part of the 60% completion report.
Within the budget discussion, one modification was the reduction of costs to ensure that the project remained on budget, stated Jones Whitsett Architects Principal in Charge of Architecture Dorrie Brooks. The nine listed modifications included eliminating the installation of a gunshot detection system, reducing the theatrical lighting package and eliminating the installation of a video wall in the cafeteria.
Despite these changes, Murphy noted that “nothing was truly sacrificed,” in the project.
Similarly, Brooks highlighted the importance of having value engineering decisions, stating, “I think this VE was actually fairly reasonable. You kind of want there to be some things that you can kind of work with to be sure that you’re staying on budget.”
At the meeting, the School Building Committee also discussed whether to utilize sod or to seed the fields on the new high school property. SMMA Landscape Architect Erik Vangsness presented two alternate ideas to the committee: to only use sod on the varsity baseball, varsity softball, junior varsity football and two soccer and lacrosse fields or on all of the fields, including the junior varsity baseball, junior varsity softball, additional soccer field and javelin throwing area as well. Approximately two growing seasons are needed to fully grow a seeded field while a field with sod would only require about a month, Vangsness said.
The pricings of these options are $456,000 and $695,000 respectively, Brooks stated. The base bid currently seeds all of the property’s fields.
The committee did not make a formal decision on this topic during the meeting.
A second formal update was posted online on July 26 and outlined the work that is expected to be completed during the month of August. The update highlights that the current entrance to the property is through the eastern driveway on Maple Street, as the horseshoe bus loop is closed for work. Events such as the summer concert series and National Night Out will occur at the high school as scheduled.
Other changes to the high school property are the closing of the junior varsity baseball and soccer fields as well as three of the property’s six tennis courts. The courts closest the parking lot are still open for use, the update states. Over the course of August, construction will include utility work in certain locations, site grading and erosion control measures, according to the update. Work hours are Monday through Saturday.
According to the project timeline announced on April 17, outside steel work is expected to begin in spring 2025 with the project completion date in summer 2027. The full monthly update is available on the School Building Committee page at eastlongmeadowma.gov/982/Welcome-to-the-ELHS-Building-Project. New updates are posted on the last Friday of the month, the committee stated.
