Marblehead school renovation project cheaper than expected

MARBLEHEAD-The Marblehead Village School boiler replacement and renovation project, estimated at $21.7 million, will cost substantially less.The School Committee voted unanimously Thursday to award the project to the low bidder, Groom Construction of Salem, at a cost of $11 million with the alternates included. The cost does not include design expenses.Committee members acted on a recommendation from the Building Oversight Committee for the project.Groom is finishing up on the $15 million Marblehead-Swampscott YMCA on Leggs Hill Road. BOC Chairman Michael Rockett said they were the lowest of nine qualified bidders. The Village project is being paid for through a debt-exclusion override and state aid funded through the sales tax.?It?s lower than we expected,” Rockett said in a brief presentation.In his remarks, Rockett praised School Committee Chairman Amy Drinker for the “thousands of hours” she put in as committee liaison.?The state turned us down,” he said, “and through sheer force of will we pushed this through.”The Massachusetts School Building Authority originally rejected funding for the Village School project in favor of funding a new building for the Glover-Eveleth school districts. The School Committee brought the Village School project before Town Meeting anyway, arguing that the boiler replacement constituted an emergency.Last May School Committee Chairman Amy Drinker stunned Town Meeting with the news that the MSBA reversed itself and promised state reimbursement of at least 40 percent of the cost after a series of meetings arranged by State Rep. Lori Ehrlich, D-Marblehead.Barbara Anderson of Citizens for Limited Taxation opposed the Village School project because the town neglected the school and because the override question would not contain an upper limit on the cost of the project.The Finance Committee unanimously favored the project and Selectman William Woodfin said the town had brought in two major school projects on time and under budget.