Residents got an update on the design plans and the timeline for the Revere High School building project at a public forum last week.
The architects are currently about halfway through the design plans for the new school at the Wonderland site, which is slated to open to students for the 2028-29 school year.
Dawn Guarriello of Perkins Eastman, the project architect, reviewed the site plan for the site as well as renderings of the building. The main features of the new school will include a four-story academic wing, as well as a three-story “heart of the school” featuring public spaces such as a new gymnasium and cafeterias. In addition, the heart of the school will lead into an outdoor learning space, and there are plans for approximately 350 underground parking spaces for staff.
In total, Guariello said there will be about 650 parking spaces for staff and students on the campus. The site will also include an all-purpose field, a multi-sport field for soccer and baseball, tennis courts, and separate drop-off areas for cars and for buses.
“It is worth noting that we are in a flood zone, and our building needs to be elevated,” said Guariello. “In elevating it, we took the opportunity to provide under building parking.”
The hope for the project is that it will be a complex for students where there is an environment of health and wellness, as well as opportunities for community use.
“This building can really be a resource and an asset to the city of Revere,” Guariello said.
The four-story academic wing will have a soft, gentle wave characteristic and house most of the general academic classrooms, as well as some support services and specialty classes as well as the media center on the upper floors.
The three-story portion of the building will include the 1,000-seat auditorium and gymnasium, as well as space for other programs, such as JROTC and vocational programs.
A freshman academy portion of the school will provide a more separated area, including a specific cafeteria, for the school’s ninth graders, allowing for an easier transition into the school, Guariello said.
The building is being designed for 2,450 students and at a planned 422,600 square feet is about twice the size of the current high school, she added.
“This project is currently in the design development phase,” said Brian Dakin, the owner’s project manager from LeftField. “We will be advancing the design and it will evolve the rest of this year into next year.”
The project team is also working on the initial environmental permitting for the project.
“This will culminate in January with an additional set of estimates based on where the design is at that point (where we) demonstrate that we remain on the budget the city approved,” said Dakin. “We will continue developing the design into construction documents and start bidding work out over the course of next year. We anticipate being able to start construction on the site in May of next year, to start demolishing the old dog track and the old abandoned utilities on the site.”
The heavy construction in terms of the steel enclosing the building and the mechanical systems are slated to take place in 2026 through 2027, Dakin said.
“In the summer of 2028 is when we plan on getting the occupancy permit and loading down with technology and furniture and being ready for a new school opening in August of 2028,” said Dakin.
