Marblehead school construction slated for January completion

MARBLEHEAD – The Marblehead Village School should reopen Jan. 5 as scheduled – but Mike Rockett, chairman of the school’s Building Oversight Committee, is asking teachers and administrators for patience when that occurs.”We’ve had hiccups in our schedule,” Rockett said in a telephone interview Monday, “just like any construction schedule.””But Groom (Construction of Salem) has told us that they will make their deadline.”Once the 1967 wing of the school reopens for Grades 4 and 5, the remainder of Phase 2 work will begin. That effort will include dealing with the water that has remained under the school cafeteria since the Marblehead Village School was built over a marsh.So far the $11 million project includes a new heating system, a renovated gym, a rebuilt cafeteria and the paving of the rear access road from Jersey Street. The town is scheduled to pay $5.2 million and the state will pay the remaining $5.8 million. Those figures represent about half of what the town expected the school to cost.Principal Michael Hanna has scheduled a parents’ meeting Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. to discuss the reopening and the school’s new traffic patterns.Rockett and his committee met with Groom during the days before Halloween to iron out the construction schedule.”We’ve had our issues but once again they are back on track,” he told the School Committee last week.He told the committee that classroom work is scheduled to be done by Nov. 20, hallway work will be done by Dec. 4 and the entire project will be finished by Dec. 10. That leaves two weeks during the Christmas vacation for Groom and the committee to locate and correct so-called punchlist items.The schedule is not what Rockett might have wished – for instance, he told the committee he was hoping to have the administrative offices complete so that employees could be trained to use the new telephone system before the December holidays begin. That training time won’t be there under the new schedule.”We’re asking everyone to be patient please,” he said. “There will be some interaction between the staff and the kids.””We’ll be right up against it but we’ll get it done.”He added, “The gym is beautiful? and you’ll have the most security cameras in the district, every entrance and every exit. You’ll be very happy with the product.”The major potential stumbling block is moving FFE – furniture, fixtures and equipment – back into the Village School. It took a day and a half to move it out. Rockett urged the committee to consider ordering more furniture, particularly for the school kitchen.”We are substantially under budget,” he said. “Let’s get it done right.”