By Adam Swift
The new Revere High School project at Wonderland is on budget and on schedule, with demolition work on the site scheduled to begin later this summer, according to the owner’s project manager.
Brian Dakin of the firm Leftfield gave the latest update on the project at Monday night’s city council meeting.
Independent estimators from both the general contractor and the design firm both determined that the total project cost of approximately $493 million for the new school remains unchanged. The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) will be reimbursing the city for a portion of the total cost of the project. In addition, the city authorized spending $29.5 million for the eminent domain taking of the 30-acre plus Wonderland property in 2022.
“I’m happy to say that we have reconciled these estimates and they are on budget, in fact, they are a fraction of a percent under the target budget,” said Dakin. “As a result, we have submitted the design development package (to the MSBA) on budget, nothing had to be removed and nothing was added from what was previously prepared.”
The design team is currently proceeding into the 60 percent construction document phase, and Dakin said that phase will run through July. At that point, the two independent estimators will once again work to verify that the project remains on budget before actual construction begins.
“In parallel with that, we are putting site demolition out to bid in the coming weeks,” said Dakin. “There is no new construction, it is simply the removal of the old clubhouse foundations and the dog track utilities under the dog track. We are going to be putting that out to bid in the coming weeks and intend to get the bid wrapped up and approved by the school building committee by April and (at the latest) by the beginning of June, we will be starting the demolition phase.”
During the summer, Dakin said there will be a re-estimating of the budget. He added that the project should also be close to complete with the permitting process at that time, as well.
The project should move forward with foundation and structural steel construction beginning in August to September of this year, Dakin said.
The final construction documents should be completed by the end of the year, with the rest of the project bid off of those documents, he added.
Ward 3 Councillor Anthony Cogliandro said that since the last time Dakin was before the council, he has had a number of residents ask him about the possibility of making cuts to the project if it came in over the budget.
“My question is, why don’t we do that anyway to save money,” Cogliandro said.
Dakin said the discussion is something that could be brought up with the school building committee.
“Ultimately, we are endeavoring to deliver the project under budget,” said Dakin. “Our goal is to deliver it under budget, but if we want to move the target budget down, I do think that is a discussion with the school building committee.”
Cogliandro said that given the size and scope of the project, there are also concerns about the cost of maintaining the building once it is complete.
The new high school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2028.
