Marshall site selection poses challenges, say city, committee members

LYNN – A feasibility study slated to begin next month will explore Marshall Middle School’s Porter Street location and other sites, including Keaney Park and Brookline Street, as future homes for a new Marshall, city Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan said Monday.”That section of town doesn’t have a lot of viable space,” Donovan said.Rick Starbard and fellow School Committee members said city officials face challenges in finding a new home for a new Marshall, or building a replacement school off Essex Street.”I imagine if it goes where it is presently, we are probably going to have to take some property. I’m not a fan of that site. It’s kind of squished into a residential neighborhood,” he said.Donovan said a 12-member school building committee last year identified prospective sites for a new Marshall school. City officials have been planning to renovate or replace Marshall since 2005.Donovan said the feasibility study will take nine months to complete, but he said the architect hired to do the study will know within the first two months of the study if it makes sense for the city to renovate Marshall or build a new school.He said both options will be presented to the School Committee for review, probably in the fall, and the state School Building Authority will make the final decision on the renovation versus construction option.Cost will factor significantly, Donovan said, into the decision process.”It’s a long process,” Donovan said.Given Marshall’s age and condition, Donovan said building a new school is the likely option for the committee and the state.Built in 1923 and currently educating 900 students, Marshall is located on Porter Street off Essex Street.Committee member Donna Coppola said Marshall needs to be replaced, not rebuilt, and said parents, teachers, Principal Richard Cowdell and the current school’s neighbors must be involved in the planning process.”Where are you going to put it? Are they going to have public meetings?” asked Coppola.Donovan said selecting a new Marshall site presents challenges.Keaney Park is a large piece of land, but also, he noted, a key athletic field complex. The Brookline Street site parallels the commuter rail tracks and would require an expensive land-taking, Donovan said.Marlborough company Cricket Realty Holdings is seeking city permission to build a 120-unit apartment building on 74-118 Brookline.Donovan said an architect selection committee made up of state and local representatives plans to pick a school designer by September. According to paperwork provided by the School Department, 12 Massachusetts architects are competing for the Marshall job.The architect will be paid roughly $400,000, Donovan said, in taxpayers’ money to conduct the feasibility study.”Part of any feasibility study would be to determine if you need to take adjacent parcels,” he said.Homes are located off Essex Street next to Marshall’s grounds and behind the school.James and Janet Raftelis have lived within sight of the Marshall schoolyard for 32 years. She grew up in West Lynn and urged city officials to learn from mistakes made in planning and building Classical High School 16 years ago on a well-known Holyoke Street dump.”The city knew about that property. There were underground fires and quick sand there,” Raftelis said.Starbard wants school officials to keep committee members informed about progress in the Marshall planning process.”We don’t want to make a hasty decision,” he said Monday.City Purchasing Director Charles White on Monday said a new school will probably take 24 months to build and by ready for occupancy by August 2016.Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].