What will students experience during construction? In choosing the proposed option, the HSBC placed a high priority on providing students a safe, high quality educational experience during the two-plus years of construction. The new buildings will be constructed over the existing main parking lots. Although there will be a single shared entrance on Old Connecticut Path, this allows construction areas to be securely fenced off while the existing buildings and most of the athletic fields can remain in use. Compromise will be necessary: parking will be limited, and some areas of the Field House will be inaccessible during its renovation. Detailed plans have not yet been developed and there will be opportunities for public input during the planning.

How can we structure our contracts and supervise our contractors to help ensure a good quality result within budget? Towns are now required by the state to have a project manager, who can provide on-site supervision. KV Associates is already on board in this role. Contracts are usually “not to exceed,” though architects cannot prepare perfect bid documents so some change orders are expected. The state now allows a different type of construction contracting method, called “CM-at risk,” which has been used in the private sector for many years and is being used on other nearby projects, such as Wellesley High School. It allows for a higher degree of control over contractors and has the potential to accelerate the schedule. In the past, other town construction projects were subject to different rules and regulations.

Will there be a construction road through the Charena Farms neighborhood? No, this is not planned.

Will the buses be moved during construction? Due to limited parking, the buses will not be parked at the High School during construction. It has not been decided where they will park, nor whether they will return to the High School after construction.

Are we confident we’ve done enough test borings to avoid what happened to Newton? (Newton discovered unexpected site conditions during construction.) Our architects and engineers did many test hole borings and are comfortable with their “due diligence” during options analysis.

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