HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-09-23-PBC-min.pdf TOWN OF LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
PERMANENT BUILDING COMMITTEE
Minutes of Tuesday September 23 1997 Meeting at Clarke Middle School ,
as approved December 9, 1997
The meeting was called to order at 7 43 p m by Chairman Bruckman with
other committee members Johnson, Poinelli and Touart , as well as owner's
representative Fay DeAvignon present Also attending were Dawn McKenna
and HMFH representatives Dorthea Hayes and Philip Lewis
Handouts included packet of revised cost estimates including most cuts
that had been identified as possible without jeopardizing the integrity
or reimbursability of the project The only cuts that were excepted
were replacement of water pipes at Estabrook, Diamond and the high
school , due to age of the schools Thus the value of cuts subtracted is
$5 384 million instead of $6 2 million The whole project cost is now
$107 million for the project in one phase over seven years and $111
million for the project stretched into two phases over ten years The
proposal of build a new Diamond Middle School to make available the
present Diamond as swing space throughout the project has been presented
to the School Committee and also mentioned at the Selectmen' s meeting
Another handout was Fay DeAvignon's notes taken at the last Thursday
morning's meeting with Joanne Hennessey of Diamond Middle School
More on Diamond The proposed new school would have to be 129,000
square feet plus allowable SPED and community spaces , according to HMFH
architect Concern was expressed that the space and number of rooms
devoted to science labs was more than the SBAB allows , but this dis-
crepancy was not considered a real stumbling block by the architects
However, the cost of a new Diamond could be as much as $22 5 million
Another meeting at Diamond with Hayes , DeAvignon and Hennessey took
place Monday afternoon At this time Hennessey again advocated for her
favorite sketch (Plan A) that showed the addition in the area of the
school 's administrative offices This whole matter may become moot if a
new Diamond should be approved
Phases I and II The School Committee will make a decision this evening
about how to package the project - Option A as a whole or Option B in
two phases VOTED by the PBC to back the project in two phases For
Diamond a conceptual site plan would be needed Architect Lewis said
that a plan from one of his firm's past projects (that was deemed
reimbursable by SBAB) could be placed upon a gross site plan Archi-
tects were instructed to stop work on renovations for Diamond
Clarke has been moved to Phase II because it has enough space now
Phase I is now proposed to contain the high school , Diamond, Harrington
and Hastings , the schools with the greatest population pressure and
needs for expansion Thus Phase II would include Clarke, Bowman,
Bridge, Estabrook and Fiske
A revised plan for Fiske was displayed by the architects It shows a
somewhat relocated (not closed) wing for kindergartens and music room as
well as infilled space for a learning center and addition to the
cafeteria The main entrance has been moved around the corner into the
small courtyard facing the driveway to East Street This plan was
received favorably and APPROVED by the PBC
PBC Minutes of 9/23/97 - Page 2
A tour of several schools , beginning and ending at the high school will
be conducted by Bruckman and Johnson for Selectmen Busa and McSweeney
They will be met by representatives of HMFH and TMP engineers
The meeting adjourned to the Clarke auditorium where the School Commit-
tee was meeting shortly after 9 p m At this meeting the phasing was
explained and questions regarding the building program were answered
Questions were raised about why a new Diamond was being proposed PBC
members answered in terms of age of the building and problems of site
limitations for locating any addition The new Diamond proposal raised
some objections and questions from the audience, among them, "Will the
new building be attractive " PBC answered by expressing their con-
fidence in the architects ' ability to create and good-looking building
The School Committee voted to support the project in two phases
The meeting concluded with notice of forthcoming meetings in preparation
for the October 20 Special Town Meeting The Selectmen' s dinner meeting
of Monday, September 29, public information meetings Saturday, October
4, at 10 a m and October 8 at Diamond Middle School at 7 30 p m
The meeting adjourned at 10 14 p m
Respectfully submitted,
Erna S Greene
Secretary
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