Belmonte building committee narrows down details on facade

SAUGUS – The Belmonte Middle School MSBA Building Committee further narrowed down its choice of a facade for the exterior of the school at Monday’s meeting at Town Hall.The budget for the exterior is currently $1.1 million out of the total $19 million for the project, and committee members along with Scott Payette of the architecture firm Fletcher Thompson tried to hammer out a design that was both aesthetically pleasing and cost efficient.This involved a mixed brick and metal panel facade. But with a full brick exterior costing more than $3 million, the committee tasked Payette drawing up design that would both incorporate either brick or brick-colored split-faced blocks and come in at $1.1 million.”We want to be really careful about the extent and scope of the fancy things we add on to it,” said Payette. “I don’t think you need brick up two stories. That’s a lot of masonry.”Part of the design agreed upon calls for four feet of brick or stone from the ground up with a grey or off-white metal paneling making up the rest of the building. The design would also do away with one of the vertical windows that bookend each of the current window rows. And canopy would be added to the front entrance.”I think that everyone in the room is more of the feeling of a traditional style of school,” said committee member Wendy Hatch as she looked at a slide of the more expensive brick facade. “Come back to us with an image as close to what you see here but cost effective to fall within the budget that we have and the scope of the project that we have.”One of the main issues raised was potential damage or vandalism to the metal panels, which is why it was agreed brick would be the best material for the first floor of the building.”You see some buildings that are metal panels from the ground up,” said Jim Down, Project Manager for Skanska USA Building Inc. “With this type of facility that’s just not an option. The first floor is going to take a beating. There’s such an additional cost to go to a second story of brick. That’s going to be a significant increase in price.”The committee will meet again on August 15 to approve a final exterior design and also to submit a final budget and project scope to the Massachusetts School Building Authority.Payette also agreed to provide more detailed renderings of the narrowed down design and will also provide samples of the brick and stone blocks that would potentially be used.Details about the project are posted on the Belmonte Middle School website.