Plans to build a new Pickering Middle School took a “critical” step forward Monday, said City Council President Dan Cahill, when state officials approved a project manager to oversee construction of a new school.
BY THOR JOURGENSEN
LYNN — Plans to build a new Pickering Middle School took a “critical” step forward Monday, said City Council President Dan Cahill, when state officials approved a project manager to oversee construction of a new school.
“This really starts the ball rolling. This is a good sign we will continue to keep this project on schedule,” Cahill said.
City Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan said LeftHand LLC is the right company to oversee the Pickering project because Lynn Stapleton, the chief person overseeing the Marshall Middle School project, works for LeftHand.
“She is very experienced — this is a very important step,” Donovan said.
With a project manager in place, the city will pick an architect in May to begin designing a new Pickering. Donovan said the process of narrowing down a site for the new school will be finalized sometime in September or October.
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said land located off of Parkland Avenue near the “Barkland” dog park opposite Pine Grove Cemetery is a leading candidate for a new school site. Pickering student enrollment totaled 618 students last fall — five over its 613-student construction capacity when the school was built in 1917.
But Pickering — like the existing Thurgood Marshall Middle School on Porter Street — is showing its age and needs repairs. Built on a hillside, the building is frequently invaded by seeping water and paint is peeling off its ceiling and walls.
It lacks 21st-century technology and learning tools that will be standard in the new Marshall under construction on Brookline Street. The first new school built by the city since 1997, Marshall will be open to students in April.
Cahill said building new public schools fits into elected officials’ vision for new private and public sector development in Lynn.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].
