By Adam Swift
The City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on a $493 million bond authorization for the construction of a new Revere High School at Wonderland at its May 20 meeting.
“This language went through the bond council and the MSBA (Massachusetts School Building Authority) for approval,” said Mayor Patrick Keefe.
Once the bond language and authorization goes through the public hearing, it will be up to the council for a vote on the bond authorization, said the mayor.
The total amount to be bonded for the project is $493,217,901, with an estimated $238,833,271 to be reimbursed to the city through the state MSBA grant.
The total project cost of the new high school is just under $523 million. The council previously approved $29.5 million for the taking of the 30-plus acre Wonderland property by eminent domain.
The city also previously approved $4.3 million for the feasibility study for the new high school.
With the bond authorization imminent, the new four-story high school could be on track for an opening date in the fall of 2018.
Earlier this spring, owner’s project manager Brian Dakin of Leftfield said the overall permitting process could take up to 18 months, but he said there should be enough permits in hand to begin site preparation this spring, with site remediation and utility work getting underway next spring.
There would be a full mobilization to get the foundation and steel work underway by next summer, with substantial completion and an opening date in 2028, Dakin said.
City finance director Richard Viscay said that by law, the bond authorization has to go to a public meeting before the council can vote on it.
“This notice is a formality to hold that public meeting,” Viscay told the council on Monday night.
