On verge of construction vote, Concord’s Rundlett Middle School opens its doors to skeptical residents

For the entire eight years Bob and Pat DeAngelis have lived in Concord’s South End, they’ve heard about the looming prospect of a new middle school.

However, despite living practically in the current school’s backyard, the retired couple had not ventured past its makeshift auditorium before Tuesday.

Two weeks before an anticipated vote on whether to proceed with constructing a new building projected to cost $155.7 million, the DeAngelises and about a dozen others took school leaders up on the opportunity to evaluate the state of the current school themselves.

The hour-long tour, led by veteran math teacher Amy Golden and school facilities director Matt Cashman, took residents into a science classroom where a baby bird fell out of the ceiling, a math classroom with a thermometer reading 77 degrees and a music classroom with a capacity of five students fewer than the teacher’s smallest class size.

“I think the school is in worse shape than I thought it was,” Bob DeAngelis, 79, said following the tour. “We definitely need a new school, but we don’t need a $155 million school.”

Therein lies the challenge for Concord’s Board of Education. Nine years after the board began exploring replacing Rundlett, district leaders are still struggling to get everyone — particularly retired residents on fixed incomes — on board with their plan.

“We’re worried about our taxes,” DeAngelis said, speaking for many who turned out on Tuesday.

The board doesn’t explicitly need voters’ approval to proceed with its current plan. The strident opposition to their decision two years ago to build the new school on the town’s East Side, a decision that’s now been reversed, has made members acutely aware of the political obstacles that can come along with an unpopular project.

Following Tuesday’s tour, the board and representatives from its architectural and construction firms attempted to explain to skeptical residents why their project would cost significantly more than other area school renovations and rebuilds.

One of the reasons is simple: construction costs have increased at least 35% since the pandemic, according to Keith Kelley, the director of pre-construction and planning at Harvey Construction.

The first estimates Concord received for the project back in 2017 came in as low as $76 million, roughly half of the current estimate.

Kelley said his firm is currently budgeting three school projects in Manchester that are projected to cost roughly the same per square foot as the Concord project, roughly $660 per square foot.

Another major reason for the comparably higher cost lies beneath the ground: Rundlett rests on very loose soil, which will require significant work to stabilize the foundation.

That is one reason architects have recommended against renovating the current building, which they have projected would cost roughly the same as building a new one.

“We have looked at many different options to renovate this building since 2017, and the numbers just never worked. It never made sense,” said Tina Stanislaski of HMFH Architects.

Still, most people who spoke could not accept the price tag.

“I think the plan they have for the new building is completely out of this world,” said Roy Schweiker, a Concord resident of more than five decades who hadn’t ventured into the building prior. “If they want a new building, they’ve got to find a cheaper way to do it.”

Not all residents opposed the district proceeding with the project at the current price point.

Sean Landry, the parent of a sixth and fourth grader, also happens to be a managing principal of an architectural firm that competes with HMFH Architects. He said his firm, Lavallee Brensinger Architects, bid for and lost out on the contract for the Rundlett project.

Referencing the $50 million renovation of a middle school in Salem, which his firm designed, Landry said the two projects are “an apple and a banana” in comparison to each other.

The Salem school “really had some good bones,” he said. “It had some historic character. There were things that were worth saving.”

“No offense to Rundlett, but there’s not a lot that’s worth saving,” he added. “It’s in bad shape.”

At its current price, the project would have an estimated tax impact in its first year of between $225 and $305 for property valued at $350,000. The range depends on whether the total project cost includes a contingency allocation and funding for furniture and technology.

The board will hold a public hearing on the project at the Abbot-Downing School on Oct. 23 at 6 p.m.

Board President Pam Walsh encouraged residents to view the project plans and share whether there was anything they believed should be removed.

A board vote on the project is set to occur at the end of the hearing or in the days following, Walsh said.

Editor’s note: The spelling of the surname of Keith Kelley, the director of pre-construction and planning at Harvey Construction, has been corrected.