Two years after talks of building a new Concord middle school began in earnest, the school board’s capital facilities committee is recommending that the district only pursue options that start from scratch.
There is still a long way to go before the school board makes a decision on the future of Rundlett Middle School. But if adopted, the capital facilities committee’s unanimous recommendation made Wednesday night would take saving any of the current building, including its old gym, off the table. The measure goes before the full school board on July 1.
Committee members seemed to feel the decision made sense fiscally and practically.
“To me it’s not cost effective to renovate. I feel very comfortable still making that recommendation … and voting to just tear the building down,” said committee member Pam Wicks. “There is no sentimental value to Rundlett. I don’t know anyone who is going to be wearing ‘Save Rundlett’ pins.”
Partial renovation with a grades 6-8 configuration and a Concord YMCA partnership was the third-most expensive option the district looked at in 2017, coming in at $77 million without any aid or grants. It also would be the longest option with a four year, four months timeframe.
Weighty questions like where to put Rundlett, which grades it should include and whether pursuing a partnership with Concord’s Y is feasible still remain. On those elements, the committee agreed there was need for more public comment.
For its location, the district has long looked at either building on the current site or a 59-acre parcel behind the Mill Brook and Broken Ground elementary schools.
The 2017 feasibility study for the middle school project showed potential configurations of a new building and joint YMCA facility on the northwestern part of the current parcel along South Street, with athletic fields placed between the middle and elementary schools. Certain configurations – especially the one that includes grades 5 through 8, with a YMCA – were an extremely tight fit on the site.
But district business administrator Jack Dunn said a third option could be the Monitor’s current site off Sewalls Falls Road. Dunn said the district has looked at the site, saying, “When 100 acres are for sale in Concord, you take a look at it.”
The committee’s next meeting is July 10 at Rundlett.