Manchester Memorial was built in 1951, with additions in 1954 and 1965. The total square footage of the existing building is 66,573 sf. Memorial’s structure is a mix of structural steel with wood roof decking and additions of structural steel and reinforced concrete.(Essex
Elementary was built in 1957 and has a total square footage of 52,900 sf. EES’s structure is comprised of reinforced concrete and structural steel.) More details on the existing conditions of both buildings can be found in the Habeeb report from 2013.
The cost of rebuilding the Memorial school will be $52.2M, with a $12M contribution to the funding coming from the Massachusetts School Building Authority and the remaining $40M coming from the two towns, split according to the regional agreement (approximately 2/3 to MBTS and 1/3 to Essex).
Approval for construction requires two key votes: a 2/3 majority at both Manchester (10/15/2018) and Essex (10/16/2018) Fall Town Meetings. If approved, a majority ballot vote is required on November 6th, 2018 (the State election day).
