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| Some Questions About
WHS Project (The Wellesley Townsman –
08/07/2008) By the Wellesley High School Preservation Committee, Guest Columnist We have been following the events since May 15, 2008, when the Wellesley School Building Committee voted for building an all-new $159-million high school. The MSBA rejected this plan as being too costly and asked Wellesley to consider instead a renovation/addition option. That option, along with two variations formulated by Wellesley’s project architects, was rejected by the School Building Committee on July 9. Wellesley has resumed planning for a new 280,000-square-foot building at a cost of $100-$110 million. It will incorporate elements of the model Whitman-Hanson Regional High School as assigned by the MSBA. Tomorrow the Wellesley School Building Committee will meet with representatives of the Massachusetts School Building Authority in Boston. At this meeting, the MSBA will review Wellesley’s proposal to build a new high school. The SBC has used rising construction costs as a pretext to justify their fast-track strategy that negates the possibility of giving serious consideration to preserving and renovating the present building. If the economy continues to falter, however, overall constructions costs would most probably decline. Yet the SBC hopes to win approval of their fast-track approach and be permitted to begin the $2.6 million schematic design phase. The SBC anticipates the resulting plans will be presented for approval at a Special Town Meeting scheduled for October 20 and 21. The final decision for funding the project will rest with all voters at the ballot box in a town-wide override on Tuesday, December 9, 2008. Many citizens of Wellesley are deeply concerned about the direction in which the Wellesley High School project is going. The School Building Committee continues to insist that Wellesley build a new high school and refuses to consider other options. Here are some of the questions that have come to the attention of the Wellesley High School Preservation Committee and have been presented to the MSBA: 1. If this project should be approved by the vote of Wellesley citizens, some people believe that the Wellesley School Building Committee would be permitted to ask Town Meeting for additional funding for enhancements, over and above allowances for escalation, contingencies, and non-reimbursable items, thus exceeding the $100-$110 million limit reimbursable by the MSBA. Is this actually the case? Will the MSBA allow local officials to ask Wellesley taxpayers to pay for project enhancement costs on a new building beyond the initially approved limit? Has the line been drawn? 2. The present Wellesley High School building is approximately 234,000 square feet. Its structure and functionality would readily allow for renovation and addition without demolition. It is therefore astonishing that for an increase of a mere 46,000 square feet the MSBA would encourage Wellesley to pursue building a new high school for $100-110 million dollars. That’s a lot of money for so little. One variation on the MSBA renovation/addition proposal, which the SBC rejected after a cursory glance at the July 9 meeting, called for continued use of the 1956 wing resulting in a reduction of project costs. This three-storied structure was designed to permit the addition of another floor. Adding a fourth floor would give the High School at least 10 more classrooms and provide further savings. Continued use of the High School’s functional Wilbury Crockett Library and the serviceable upstairs gym would be another efficient and cost-effective measure. Why hasn’t the MSBA asked Wellesley to use its structurally sound building to save money for the town and the state in arriving at an improved and updated 21st century high school? The Wellesley Townsman editorial of July 24 said, “…there might be some good ideas out there that school officials haven’t even considered.” Why, then, haven’t the MSBA and the SBC given the town the opportunity to develop a modest renovation/addition proposal as one of those good ideas? 3. The Wellesley High School site consists of floodplain and wetlands. The MSBA is aware of the ecological constraints of the site. But these questions remain: Prior to Wellesley’s spending $2.6 million on schematic designs for the project, why hasn’t the MSBA asked the SBC to conduct the necessary studies to determine whether it is legal to build on this site? Why haven’t Wellesley townspeople been kept informed clearly and openly about the critical wetland issues that must be addressed? 4. It is axiomatic that the greenest building is the one you have. True sustainability maximizes energy conservation and minimizes demolition. Project architects have often said the 1938 building has the potential to fulfill this promise. This green initiative would encourage Wellesley to preserve valuable building resources and the integrity of the High School campus. Why is the MSBA allowing Wellesley officials to waste town and state resources by tearing down the functional and iconic Wellesley High School at a demolition cost of more than $2 million for the sake of building new? Why has the state not insisted that Wellesley instead adopt an approach that is environmentally as well as fiscally responsible? 5. Many townspeople are disturbed about the prospect of a “cookie-cutter” school replacing Wellesley’s own distinctive high school. Standardization minimizes esthetic quality of the overall structure and of the building materials used in both its interior and exterior aspects. For example, Wellesley, like Whitman-Hanson, will be expected to use a lesser grade of materials in certain parts of the building in order to cut costs incurred in the process of building new. Again following the Whitman-Hanson model, Wellesley would install smaller and narrower windows than the present ones that were designed for Wellesley High School and that afford maximum use of natural light. Why doesn’t the MSBA encourage Wellesley to preserve and improve its existing high school rather than erect a new building that, from all indications, will be inferior to the one we have now? These are some of the questions that citizens have raised concerning the SBC’s fast-track approach to the High School project. Answers are needed. By no means are townspeople ready to accept the assumption that a new building using elements of the model Whitman-Hanson Regional High School would best serve the education of Wellesley students. A legitimate renovation/addition option should be put on the table as the responsible and cost-effective alternative to the fast-track strategy now being foisted upon the citizens of Wellesley.
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