The Winthrop School was last expanded and renovated in 1989, and was brought up to then-current codes for structure and accessibility, which were not significantly different than those currently required. The Doyon School was expanded in 1994 and is a one-story building which should not be difficult to bring up to current codes and accessibility standards. Both buildings are steel frame and masonry structures in reasonably good condition. To claim that a suitable renovation and limited expansion of these existing buildings would cost more than the price of new construction does not pass the smell test.
In response to a query by MSBA regarding the cost of renovating and expanding the existing schools in lieu of building a single, new school, a feasibility study and cost estimate prepared in March, 2016, was provided by the School Committee’s architects and submitted in December, 2017. The feasibility submission entitled Winthrop and Doyon Elementary Schools — Renovation and Addition addressed renovating the existing 50,485 square feet at Winthrop and adding 2,968 new sq. ft. (replacing the current modular spaces), as well as renovating the existing 49,924 sq. ft. at Doyon and adding 8,678 new sq. ft. Based on that study, the cost of renovations and additions at both existing schools would total 112,055 sq. ft., and the escalated construction cost (at 5 percent annual rate) would be approximately $35 million. This is $22 million less than the current $57 million proposal for a single school and avoids major site development costs that are required for a single, new school.
Furthermore, the MSBA scoring system awards greater “incentive points” to those communities that renovate and expand existing school structures, which can result in a higher percentage of construction cost reimbursement.
This estimate for renovations and modest additions to the existing buildings was excluded from further consideration, with the following explanation:
“The District’s costs of Base Repair (without educational/space standards addressed) for both schools was estimated to be far too significant relative to the costs of full Renovations /Additions or New Construction that would address the educational needs and objectives. Likewise, the costs of renovating Doyon in conjunction with renovation or new for the Winthrop School far exceeded the costs.”
No further explanation was provided in the report. The chairman of the School Building Committee later stated at bean counting that if the existing two schools were renovated and increased to the size the MSBA deemed necessary, the total area of both schools would amount to 138,000 sq. ft. This is nearly 26,000 sq. ft. more than the combined floor area presented in the feasibility study also submitted to the MSBA. No particulars have been disclosed as to how much if any of the additional area is really needed, or why the renovation with modest additions would not be sufficient.
The current proposal is flawed in that it is based on an incomplete analysis of the available options. Before voting for a single new school, we should insist that our town boards and professional consultants conduct a thorough and unbiased evaluation of the addition/renovation option. Even if it is ultimately determined that the cost of this option would be equivalent to the cost of a new school, reusing the existing buildings would be a much better solution because it would result in two schools of appropriate scale, anchored in the neighborhoods which they serve.
Note: Kenneth Savoie, Old England Road, and Albert (Tito) Harkness, Fox Run Road, are both architects. Savoie is chairman of the Design Review Board, former chairman of the Planning Board and former chairman of the School Building Needs Committee (Winthrop and Doyon Additions).