PEABODY — The recently formed School Building Committee will be holding its first public meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. for community members to voice their input and ask questions on the new Peabody Veterans Memorial High School (PVMHS) that is entering its first stages.
Anyone is open to attending the forum being held in the current PVMHS auditorium, which Mayor Ted Bettencourt said will be one of many throughout the next few years.
Heading the group is School Committee Member Beverley Griffin Dunne, with other members including Bettencourt, Superintendent Dr. Josh Vadala, city council members, and parents of students in the district.
While the project is only at the beginning of its development, the School Building Committee wants to ensure they are always transparent with residents through each stage.
“We invite people from the public to meet the School Building Committee members that’ll be there Wednesday night,” Bettencourt said. “We’ll talk a little bit about the MSBA, the Massachusetts School Building Authority, process and give some time frames that we’re looking at.”
A finished product likely won’t be realized until four to five years down the line, where the committee will work with the MSBA to figure out a high school that is fit for the city while staying cost-efficient.
Important decisions, such as which, if any, structures will be preserved for the new building, will need to be made. Hearing from residents about their visions for PVMHS will help the committee make these decisions while securing a building that is community-forward.
“It’s going to be the biggest project we take on as a city ever. We want to make sure it’s cost efficient and that we hear from people as to what their thoughts and expectations are,” Bettencourt said. “I really want to make sure everybody understands the process.”
Already, interested residents have been approaching Bettencourt with questions about the project, including if it will be a complete demolition, where the building will go, and how long each stage can be expected to take.
Being in just the preliminary stages, these are questions that no one has the answers to just yet. However, the committee is in talks with the MSBA to consider renovating the fieldhouse and auditorium instead of completely demolishing them.
“We wouldn’t get a field house. We would get a large gym. We would get an auditorium that wouldn’t be nearly the size the current auditorium is,” Bettencourt said. “So those will be discussions we take that could be some savings.”
A request for the new PVMHS building’s initial funding will be brought to the city council in March or April, an important deliverable required by the MSBA.
To learn more about the MSBA’s process, attend the School Building Committee’s Wednesday meeting, where members will answer any questions residents may have to the best of their ability.
