Report: New Marshall needs costly piles

LYNN – A network of steel piles pounded 110 feet into five acres of empty Brookline Street land should underpin the proposed $84 million Marshall Middle School, a consultant concluded in a recently released report.Citing soft clay conditions on the building site, New Hampshire-based Sovereign Consulting Inc. warned city officials not to use “conventional shallow spread footing foundations” to support the four-story, 70,200 square foot school building.?It is our opinion that the entire school building should be pile-supported,” Sovereign concluded in its report.How the pile driving recommendation affects the Marshall project?s cost, and how much of that cost would be shouldered by Lynn taxpayers, is still being calculated.Subject to approval from local voters in September, the city is seeking state approval to have state taxpayer dollars cover 80 percent of the school price tag. Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy this week said the amount paid for with local property taxes will end up totaling about $25 million after project costs are whittled down.?We have not begun assessing where the costs will be cut, so I cannot give you a firm total on the revised number,” Kennedy stated by email Wednesday.Acting Chief Financial Officer Peter Caron said the city?s bonded indebtedness – how much money it borrows – will absorb the city?s share of Marshall costs as current borrowing expenses get paid off.Sovereign tested the Brookline Street site in May and June to determine if a school can be built on the land. Chemical traces associated with the site?s industrial history, including a former plastic plant and shoe factories, were detected on the site, but Sovereign concluded: “It cannot be stated with absolute certainty whether or not a hazardous waste contamination problem exists or will exist in the future at the site.”Sovereign?s report warns construction workers will have to take care to drive piles at least eight feet away from a six-foot wide brick sewer line running under Brookline site.?A post-construction failure would be very difficult and costly to repair/replace and likely impact school operations,” the report stated.Sovereign?s conclusions do not surprise Brookline site construction advocate and Ward 3 City Councilor Darren Cyr, who noted that the site has a history of being a location for large buildings.Cyr said potential taxpayer costs associated with building a new Marshall on Brookline Street are far outweighed by the $50 million expense of renovating the existing Marshall on Porter Street.?It?s going to cost the taxpayer,” he said, “but if we don?t do this, we?ll get held to the whole nut to redo Marshall.”