What to do, what to do with LHS?
10 options to improve high school complex on the board
The actual construction work would potentially start in 2020 and be completed by 2022 or later, depending on the amount of renovation and new construction involved.
LINCOLN — The school department and local residents embarked on what could be a difficult decision-making process for renovating the high school Thursday evening, while considering the possible proposals revealed at an informational meeting in the old cafeteria.
In all, 10 options for improving the existing high school complex at 135 Old River Road, have been prepared by the town’s design consultant, Symmes, Maini & McKee Associates of Providence, that range from about $40 million to $65.5 million, depending on the amount of renovated existing space, partial demolition of existing space and new construction involved in the plans.
Most of the concepts focus on downsizing the current, just-under 200,000square-foot school constructed in phases since 1964, to a 170,000 repurposed structure serving a maximum of 850 high school students.
The design work was commissioned by the High School Improvement Study Committee, a subcommittee of the town’s Capital Development Committee last fall and will be used to meet the required filing of a building need assessment to the state Department of Education as the first step in the process of seeking approval and funding for the planned improvements.
Acrowd of about 110 town residents and school community members attended the informational session in the old cafeteria and heard SMMA principal Edward Frenette detail his company’s findings on the need for improvements at the high school complex as well as the thinking behind the most
likely to be pursued of the 10 potential design options.
The meeting was the first of two planned to outline the design options for members of the public and the second session will be held on Feb. 1 also at Lincoln High School. High School Superintendent Georgia Fortunato said all of the plans under discussion will be available on a website created for Lincoln High School Renovation Project at renovation.lincolnps.org.
School Committeewoman Julie Zito, who opened the meeting with Town Councilman and fellow study committee member Arthur Russo Jr., said the Capital Development Committee had worked to complete town improvement projects such as the new senior center, the police station addition, open space purchases and the expansion of the public library before turning its attention the project she had been “holding my breath for, the high school.”
The subcommittee was created, and it is “now focusing on making this place amazing,” Zito said.
The subcommittee includes members of the Town Council and School Committee, Town Administrator Lincoln Almond and Fortunato as well as town facilities and planning directors, local residents and school community members such as High School Principal Kevin McNamara, Zito noted.
When selecting SMMA to conduct the design assessment, Zito said she was pleased the subcommittee was able to pick a firm that would not only look at the needed improvements to the high school building but also consider how the process of educating students would work in an improved facility.
Russo told the gathering in addition to providing the town with an “understanding of what we have,” the mechanical and electrical systems of the school, the structural overview, school capacity and traffic flow, SMMA was also providing information based on interviews the firm conducted with “students and teachers and department heads to find out what needs they have in the building.”
Frenette and SMMA senior project architect Ed Bourget would also detail the Rhode Island Department of Education project approval process, Russo said.
“This is quite a long process, there are three stages, and there is going to be some bonding proposals that will have to go before the town,” he said. The town will also have to submit applications to the state for its role in approving state construction reimbursements of up to 35 percent before “we even put a shovel in the ground,” Russo said. “So this is the first step in a fairly long process,” he said.
Russo also noted the possible impacts on town finances while offering that “we need to know what our wallet looks like,” while explaining how the subcommittee had met with town finance officials on the potential impact on the local budget.
“According to their analysis Lincoln can allot $32 million to this project without tax levying and that is due some great financial planning by the town,” he said. In effect, the town could spend $32 million (including the state support) in bond capacity before there is any change to our tax bill,” he explained. After that, however, for every $5 million increase in spending on the project, approximately $250,000 in bond support costs would be added to the budget annually over the life of the bonding, Russo noted.
The 10 options for improving the high school now sitting before the committee include a barebones approach to just fixing the most important maintenance and facility issues to carry the building forward into the future, to a more radical mix of demolishing sections of its old junior high school wing and constructing new sections of modern school facilities such as a two-story classroom addition.
One factor driving the planning for improvements is RIDE’s interest in seeing school districts complete long term improvements lasting 40 to 60 years, according to Frenette. “They don’t want to see a community coming back in ten years,” he said of RIDE’s long-term approach to capital improvements.
The proposals weighed by the design firm also include a look at constructing an entirely new building at a cost of just under $70 million, but Frenette said the mid-point projects that are more likely to gain a recommendation took into account some level of demolition and repurposing as the most cost effective.
Under the $47.9 million scenario, the demolition of the junior high wing would remove 87,100 feet of space from the complex, another 96,800 feet of space would be renovated and an addition of 47,400 of new facilities constructed.
A second layout would raise the cost to $56.1 million when demolishing 83,300 square feet of the high school, renovating 90,400 square feet and constructing 74,000 as new facilities.
The most radical of the demolish and rebuild options would tear down 152,100 square feet of the existing school structure, renovate the remaining 42,300 square feet of space and construct new additions totaling 141,400 square feet at a project cost of $65.5 million, according to Frenette.
The planned improvement work would be done while the school continued to serve students with new sections being added during summer vacations where possible, according to Frenette.
The actual construction work would potentially start in 2020 and be completed by 2022 or later depending on the amount of renovation and new construction involved, the architect explained.
Local residents already had questions about the work while the presentation was being made and some asked what safety precautions would be available in the new school while other questioned the consultant’s projections of a maximum high school population of 850 students when approximately 900 are served by the building now.
Frenette maintained that SMMA student population estimate is based on a fiveyear primary projection and a ten-year long range forecast as the maximum allowed by the state.
“The best judgment we can make on these representations is a building for 850 students,” he said. “That is the best judgment we can make,” he added.