PEABODY — PMA Consultants has been selected as the project manager for the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School construction project.
PMA Consultants is a construction consulting firm made up of an integrated team of skilled professionals who deliver solutions to project challenges through innovative, construction-focused program and project management services. As project management consultants, PMA tailors teams, resources, and systems to each assignment with consistently positive results.
The firm prides itself on building teams of accomplished professionals with extensive real-world construction management experience. PMA staff are driven to continuously learn, lead, and problem-solve to achieve personal and professional growth. The company is known for fully understanding project issues and leveraging multiple perspectives and knowledge sources to deliver solutions that best fit each project or program.
Mayor Ted Bettencourt emphasized that this decision was unanimous among those who conducted the interviews.
“This is a proud and long-awaited day for the City of Peabody,” Bettencourt said. “For many years, our community has recognized the need for a new high school, and today we are finally taking the first major step toward making it a reality. This marks an exciting moment for our students, families, and residents. A new high school will strengthen educational opportunities for generations of students, support our city’s long-term economic development, and stand as a major investment in Peabody’s future.”
PMA will represent the City throughout the design and feasibility phase, working closely with the architectural team to guide Peabody through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) process.
“I am very happy with our choice of PMA as our project manager,” said School Building Committee Chair Beverley Griffin Dunne. “Their materials and presentation, as well as their responsiveness throughout the selection process and interviews, gave me great confidence that their attention to detail and personal appreciation for our project will allow Peabody and PMA to be great partners.”
Superintendent Josh Vadala said the project marks a turning point for Peabody’s educational future.
“A new high school presents incredible opportunities for our students and staff,” Vadala said. “The learning environment we create today will define what teaching and learning look like in Peabody for decades to come. We are excited to begin this process with a team that understands the educational vision and the promise this project holds for our community.”
PMA Managing Director and Project Lead Kevin Nigro emphasized that PMA has had plenty of experience with similar projects across Massachusetts. He mentioned Somerville High School and Saugus Middle High School as examples.
“We greatly look forward to combining our knowledge with the lessons that Peabody has learned from previous school building projects to build an educationally appropriate school the City will be proud of for years to come,” Nigro said.
He also noted that, now that PMA has been publicly announced as the project manager, tours of PMA’s previous builds, and tours of other schools that have piqued the School Building Committee’s interest, can be scheduled shortly.
A Saugus native, Nigro mentioned how he feels “lucky” to have primarily worked on the North Shore throughout his career.
“Every job is new to us. It has its own challenges, and that’s what we look forward to is: What are the challenges? There’s nothing worse than doing the same thing every day. We like jobs with challenges. We want to address them upfront, see what they are, and hit the ground running,” Nigro said.
The next step forward for the PVMHS project is to select an architect. Dunne excitedly shared that that process will begin Thursday. It is projected that the architect will be chosen by the end of July.
