An above ground view of the East Longmeadow High School project site.
Photo credit: ELCAT01028
EAST LONGMEADOW — The East Longmeadow School Committee and the School Building Committee gave updates to the new high school project in its respective meetings on Jan. 27 and 29.
Partnered with the Massachusetts School Building Authority, construction on the building began in 2024 and should be open for fall 2026.
Superintendent Gordon Smith said the project remains on schedule and on budget. The total cost estimate for the building from 2023 was $177.5 million, with $83 million covered by the MSBA grant and $95 million covered by the town.
Around $92 million has been invoiced to date with around $42.2 million being reimbursed to East Longmeadow. Around $82.8 million has been submitted to ProPay, MSBA’s reimbursement system.
Smith showed pictures of the site, detailing some of the progress occurring inside and outside of the building.
New activity includes the roof over the pool building being completed and the slab installation for the new press box at the stadium. Roof paneling and exterior work is currently being done on the pool building, with power throughout the building expected before March.
Inside the building, the elevated control booth in the auditorium has been framed and staging has begun. There’s a two month goal for fire suppression, lighting, painting and the ceiling to be completed before moving on to the seating and walls.
Walls in the building have been going up, with drywall, painting and tiling throughout the building in progress. Smith said each wing has certain accent colors to help navigate, with each classroom having the respective wing color. Smith showed a picture of the taping and mudding of the A-Wing high walls, where the auditorium and arts in the school will be.
Fire protection has begun to be installed in the B-Wing, along with electrical rough-in for the culinary arts room. Millwork and countertops have been installed in D-Wing science classrooms, which Smith said are far bigger than any of the labs at the current high school.
“It’s really interesting to see how many of these things are done offsite and then they bring in the whole plumbing unit, if you will, or electrical unit and then set it up in the room,” Smith said.
School Committee Chair Greg Thompson added that staff will begin going into the school, 12 at a time over two weeks, to see the whole building and the spaces they will be going into.
Smith said that a request for proposals is being put together to moving companies as well. The move for the annex portion is being prepared for the school’s April break. The summer move will depend on when the last day of school is, which makes snow days a scheduling concern. So far, the district has already had two.
“You really have two very specific moves, and in that there’s a lot of moving parts, no pun intended,” Smith said. “There’s moving to storage, moving to office space for central office, and then moving back. There’s moving the rest of the school in June, most of that’s going into storage, and then moving it from storage into the new building. It’s going to be interesting when those bits come in.”
Thompson said there will be an auction for furniture and anything that’s sellable in the current building. He said everything will be sold in lots, such as the desks, chairs and kitchen equipment. He said the auction will happen before the end of the school year and the winners will have a one day window after the last day of school to pick everything up.
Items will also be sent to Birchland Park Middle School, with the library furniture going to the East Longmeadow Public Library, such as the circulation desk and potentially tables and chairs.
Smith also showed a picture of high school students, who may be interested in going into the construction trade, given the opportunity to shadow on the site.
Alongside Thompson, the students were able to tour the building and speak with Mark Hogan from Fontaine Brothers Inc., the project’s construction manager. Thompson said it was great and that Hogan was able to answer a lot of questions and the students got a lot out of it.
