BOE Hears “Small R” Estimates

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To the question of what to do about Weston Middle School, on May 4 the Board of Education heard estimates for renovation with a “small R,” an incremental approach less ambitious than a full-scale renovation-as-new.

The bottom line: $100 million.

That figure, according to conceptual estimates presented by Scott Pellman of Colliers Project Leaders, is the amount costs would gradually come to over the course of several years as improvements are funded by annual capital allocations with little potential for State reimbursement.

The estimates are largely based on a facilities condition assessment conducted in 2017 and an option presented in a follow-up study in 2019. From there, they are escalated to present-day costs and those projected to exist several years hence.

The scope

“Small R” estimates include addressing general middle school infrastructure issues that were identified in 2017, now estimated in today’s dollars to cost $67.4 million once $4 million is subtracted for a pool and locker room facility.

The pool was omitted for comparison purposes because it is not included in any of the design concepts recently presented for a new or renovated-as-new school. Both designs envision it as a detached facility, which makes it largely or completely ineligible for reimbursement and funded by unidentified means.

The $67.4 million is projected to grow to $80.4 million by 2030, and includes features in a 2019 design to reconfigure classrooms, build an 11,000 square-foot science wing, move music and art into the existing science space, and add a new entrance and office space.

By the time $3.9 million is added for fixtures, furnishings and equipment, $16.1 million more goes to fees, other expenses, and contingencies, the total is $100.4 million. Mr. Pellman suggested that, best case, the town might be able to get back $8 million from the State.

But he cautioned that he “would not base a project moving forward on an evaluation that’s nine years old.”

The most recent high-end estimate of local costs to build a new middle school is $115 million. It could open by the autumn of 2030. The estimate (local costs) for a full renovation-as-new is $106 million, but would not be complete until late 2032.