PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Gene Raymond of Raymond Designs explains the pros and cons of each potential site.
BY BRIDGET TURCOTTE
LYNN — The city is considering building two new schools to replace Pickering Middle School.
Architect Gene Raymond of Raymond Design Associates, Lynn Stapleton, the project manager, and city officials discussed options for the new facilities with residents Wednesday night.
Construction is expected to start next spring and take more than two years to complete.
Raymond and Stapleton worked on the $67 million Thurgood Marshall Middle School project.
This is the first in a series of public forums on building options and potential school locations.
The city is working with the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which has authorized construction of a facility equipped to hold up to 1,660 students.
Stapleton said the team is considering a two-school solution, with a total capacity of 1,600 students. The plan would alleviate overcrowding at Breed Middle School and prepare the city to educate an influx of students in coming years, she said.
Breed has 1,300 students and is designed to hold about 900, Stapleton said.
The larger capacity would accommodate about 1,000 more people in the district, and take students from Breed, Raymond said.
“One thousand, six hundred students would probably make it the largest middle school in the commonwealth,” he said. “Putting that all in one neighborhood in the city is really going to stress whatever neighborhood that is.”
Raymond also said that renovating the existing Pickering building would be “impossible and a tremendous waste of the city’s efforts and money.”
The designers are considering a dozen locations citywide, each with different permitting timelines and feasibility, he said.
Sites such as Gallagher Park and Magnolia Park were among contenders. But any open space taken for the project must be replaced elsewhere in the city, he said.
Union Hospital was considered. But the site was quickly rejected because of opposition to it’s closure, and Raymond described Barry Park as a “bathtub” during a storm.
Wetlands and traffic implications were also factors for many of the sites.
The team concluded that two “least impactful” sites are McManus Park and what they call a “reservoir site” on Parkland Avenue.
Flooding in the McManus Field neighborhood is ocean flooding, rather than rainfall, Raymond said.
Ward 6 Councilor Peter Capano said regardless of where the flooding comes from, it’s a problem in the neighborhood when it rains. He suggested developers coordinate with Lynn Water & Sewer Commission to resolve the problem before construction begins.
Resident Brian Field expressed concerns that the Parkland Avenue parcel is controlled by the Cemetery Commission and will need to be used for a cemetery expansion of the Pine Grove Cemetery within the next decade.
Michael Donovan, building commissioner, said city attorneys completed research to determine the property is city-owned.
“These two are probably the most viable options,” Raymond said. “They’re both not jammed up against neighborhoods.”
He also had a plan for getting to each of the schools to avoid nearby Wyoma Square, which is often a bottleneck. Cars traveling from the north would follow Lynnfield Street to Averill Road. From the south, they would travel on Richardson Road, he said.
Those who hadn’t had the opportunity to see the new Marshall Middle School, got a first look through a slideshow presented by Superintendent Catherine Latham. The presentation highlighted aspects of Marshall that will be seen in the new school or schools.
Latham expects the new school will feature a cluster system, much like the one at Marshall. The children are separated into separate clusters of about 120 students. The clusters are color-coded and have all of the primary classes in one area of the building.
“We will be doing the same for Pickering,” she said.
The new school will also have the same electives offered at Marshall, including sewing, directing, and art classes, Latham said.
“These subjects make students want to go to school,” she said.
The next forum is scheduled for June 22.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.
