BY ADAM SWIFT
PEABODY — The handover of the keys to the new Higgins Middle School to the city on Tuesday was symbolic.
But the excitement of the students who will be entering the new school in September is real.
“Looking around, it looks so futuristic,” said Adam Abdulghani, who will enter seventh grade next year. “It looks like someone took a page from ‘Back to the Future.’”
He was one of more than 20 Higgins students who took part in Tuesday’s ceremony in the $92.6 million school’s media center.
Also on hand were the project’s architect, DiNisco Design Partnership of Boston; Rhode Island-based general contractor Agostini-Bacon Construction; project manager Daedalus Projects Inc. of Boston and Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr.
“This is an exciting time for the city of Peabody,” said Bettencourt. “There are a number of projects, but the biggest one and the one I am most proud of is the new middle school.”
Before Bettencourt took office in 2012, there were plans to renovate and build an addition on the existing school.
Bettencourt later contacted the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), a quasi-independent authority created to fund capital improvement projects in public schools, and told them the city needed a new middle school, according to Jack McCarthy, the agency’s executive director.
Construction began on the new school, only feet away from the existing Higgins, in the summer of 2014. The MSBA is covering just under $44 million of the project cost.
From the 1,000-seat gym, to the culinary arts room with eight kitchenettes, to the food court, the students who got an impromptu tour of the school said they couldn’t wait to come back in September for a closer look.
“It’s so big and beautiful, and so different from the old school,” said student Lily Baglio.
Ketsia Kabeya was one of several students who said she is worried about getting lost in the 224,000-square-foot building — more than twice the size of a typical Home Depot.
But Kabeya said she liked the futuristic look and was excited about the start of the year next fall.
Isabella McCarthy said she liked the modern look of the school, filled with natural light and lots of windows.
“It’s just like a college, but even better,” said Sofia Valencia.
“Because it’s free,” said Ryan Yuu.
