Please be advised that our second round of steel delivery to The Manchester Memorial Elementary construction project will occur from 10/13-10/20.  Deliveries will be between the hours of 7-7:30am, and 8:30 am-2:30 pm.  The Manchester Police Department has been notified and is aware of the deliveries and will be providing detailing services.  Please see attached our trucking route traffic and logistics plan for reference.

 

Also please be advised that the construction team will be working Sunday, 10/18, from 8:00 am-4:00 pm. This is rare for us – in fact, our first time working on a Sunday for this project.  We are pushing to get this next phase enclosed before cold weather settles in.   The operations will not produce significant noise and will be mostly steel framing detailing/welding.  The work will not include any heavy machinery, i.e. cranes, etc. 

 

• MMES - Phase 2 Steel Traffic Plan
• MMES - Phase 2 - Steel Logistics Plan

Monthly Construction Report Can Be View on the Site & Construction Information Page

As of the October Construction Report, the Memorial School project is proceeding on time and on budget.  The steel is going up quickly, and the WT Rich Construction Team is on target to have it wrapped and ready for winter work by mid-December.

 

Here's the latest ariel view of the progress. 

 

Memorial Building Project  - Steel Activity Bulletin

What to Expect From 10/28/2019 to 12/06/2019

During this phase of the project, the construction team will be working extended hours from 7:00 am – 6:00 pmto complete steel close to school.  It is anticipated that there will be a need for Saturday work during this period.

In addition to extended work days, this will be a period during which there will be an increase in the number of deliveries to the site.

• Deliveries will be Monday – Friday from 10/28/2019 to 11/08/2019.
• Crane Mobilization and first steel deliveries (2-3 trucks expected daily).
• Police details have been scheduled, and they will be overseeing traffic pattern changes, including reversing the direction on Union Street periodically. MPD will be providing notices to neighbors impacted by parking bans during the hours of anticipated oversized load traffic

Memorial Building Project  - Steel Activity Bulletin

Memorial Building Project  - Steel Delivery Traffic Plan

Memorial Building Project Ariel View!

Construction is underway at the Memorial School and we are on track to be in the new academic wing at the start of the 2020-2021 school year. Check out an ariel view of the progress.

Safety First…Getting to/from MMES 2019-2020

With the on-going construction of the new Memorial School, new safety measures are being suggested to address the well-being of students, teachers, families, and neighbors. Being aware of construction traffic in combination with the area’s K-12 parent traffic, one goal is to minimize vehicle use around the school. 

Please be mindful of crosswalk, sidewalk, parking lot, and roadway safety.

For student arrival and dismissal, please consider:

• Walking or biking to school
• Joining a Walking School Bus that will use the routes on the attached map
• Riding the school bus
• Carpooling
• Using the designated satellite “Park and Walk” locations. Everyone is counting their steps these days and what better way to get ahead in your count than by driving to a common area and walking with your student to school.

Locations include:

• Sweeney Park
• Masconomo Park
• Town Offices
• Norwood Avenue (resident lot)
• Friends Street (on-street parking)
• Pulaski Drive (on-street parking)

The Coach Field lot on Brooks/Norwood Streets is open ONLY for construction. No parent parking or access will be available.

Memorial School Walking Plan

The Memorial School Building Committee (MSBC) has been hard at work over the past few months collaborating with the Design and Project Management Team on the development of more detailed design specifications that will be used to refine estimates and guide construction.  In accordance with the MSBA project development plan, MERSD will be submitting three design progress reports with increasing levels of detail before the final approval in late summer. Through each phase, the team engages in both a design refinement and cost management process to ensure the building not only meets our educational needs but also stays on budget.

 

Project Timeline:  Construction will begin in the summer of 2019 and end in the fall/winter of 2021 with students in their new classroom spaces by fall of 2020 and, common/administrative spaces (e.g., gym, cafeteria, main office) being completed during the 2020-2021 school year. Demolition will occur during the summer when school is not in session.  During construction, students will be housed in the current Memorial School building and moved to the new classroom space by Fall 2020.  A full phasing and safety plan is under development and will be communicated in early May. 

 

Community Input:  MERSD will be hosting a Community Meeting March 13^th at 7:00 pm at the Manchester Memorial School.  The meeting provides an opportunity to keep the Manchester and Essex communities up-to-date on the process and to gather feedback.  Topics will include a design update, an overview of project phasing, and a construction timeline. For more information, including drafted architectural designs for the proposed building, budget information please visit the Memorial School Building Committee webpage.

 

 

 

 

Thank you to the residents of Essex and Manchester for supporting the Memorial School Project. I am thrilled at the outcome and thankful to the members of the School Building Committee and Vote Yes for Kids who contributed their time and energy to the development and communication of the plan to the MERSD Community. From value engineering and design review to hosting coffees and holding signs in the rain, the expertise and commitment of our community volunteers were critically important to the successful vote on the Memorial Building Project.   

The communities of Essex and Manchester have a strong reputation for their commitment to high-quality schools. On behalf of the faculty and staff of MERSD, I extend my sincere appreciation to the residents of the communities of Manchester and Essex for your continued investment in education and your unwavering support of our students and of our schools.

For more information, including drafted architectural designs for the proposed building, budget information and Memorial Project FAQs please visit the Memorial School Building page.

Updates on next steps coming soon! 

 

As we approach our Fall Town Meetings, the Manchester Essex Regional School District wants to highlight our Frequently Asked Questions page and highlight issues that have arisen in conversations with voters, particularly around the “one school issue.”

Why aren’t we building one unified elementary school between the two towns?

There are several reasons that the District is not pursuing a single elementary school on the School Street/Southern Avenue corridor.

• The Regional agreement between the two towns says that each town will retain an elementary school.
• In 2013, the District looked at the possibility of a combined school in the Habeeb Report. The acreage needed for that combined school was 30 acres of usable land, which could only be found on land on the Southern Avenue/School Street corridor.
• Cost projections of site (2 identified) acquisition in 2013 were above $6M.
• Site development was estimated to be about the same cost.
• Of those dollars, the acquisition would not be reimbursed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) and site development would be capped for reimbursement at 8%.
• Bringing utilities to the sites would fall fully on the District.

This option was deemed too costly to the two towns.

• Several years ago, the District conducted a study to determine if the towns wanted a single elementary or two neighborhood schools. The results of that study were that the majority of residents in both towns (more than 600 responses) wanted to retain their neighborhood schools.
• In the spring of 2016, both towns voted overwhelmingly to fund a $650,000 Feasibility Study for the Memorial School project.
• The current school building committee worked with the Owner’s Project Manager and Designer to revisit the one school option, but determined that the same concerns raised in the Habeeb report precluded the District from pursuing that solution:
• The MSBA does not reimburse for site acquisition costs. The cost of any purchase of land would be fully borne by the two towns.
• The MSBA caps site development cost reimbursement at 8%, which, for a new site, would be a considerable expense.
• All utilities would have to be brought to the newly acquired site, which MSBA will not reimburse.
• All elementary school students would have to be transported to the new site—a costly increase to our annual expenses.
• As part of this process, we asked the administration to consider operational cost savings (annual savings, mostly on personnel). Staffing is tied to population, so at best, we would see a savings in a few positions, but not enough to offset the unreimbursable capital debt or the increase in transportation costs.
• Concerns were raised by the two towns that an even more costly solution, at this time, would be an unusual burden on some taxpayers.

Why not build one school in Essex

Some people have asked why we can’t build one combined school in Essex. Again, the acreage isn’t there, nor is the community interest. The data and the lack of support in a combined school during the past two years of the MSBC shows that residents in both towns value their neighborhood schools. Finally, the prospect of transporting 2/3 of the elementary school population (many of whom walk or ride bikes to school now), will cause a significant increase to our already tight annual budget.

 

For more information, including drafted architectural designs for the proposed building, budget information and Memorial Project FAQs (https://www.mersd.org/domain/793)lease visit the Memorial School Building (https://www.mersd.org/domain/767).