All Andover voters are encouraged to attend Special Town Meeting on Monday, November 20th beginning at 7:00 PM in the field house at Andover High School.

Article 7A is a request from the AHS Building Committee for $1.3 million from the town’s existing free cash account to complete the project’s Schematic Design phase.

The Schematic Design phase defines critical elements that have an impact on project cost including: building layout; floor plans; structural, mechanical, electrical and fire protection systems; materials selections; and a developed site plan.

Completing Schematic Design will develop a fully-formed building proposal to a level of detail required for an accurate price estimation, which could then be considered by voters at both a future town meeting and a future ballot box vote.

This funding request is a culmination of more than a decade of study and discussions with the Andover community to address the condition of Andover High School and its effect on the education of our children. In the past 2 years, the AHS Building Committee has held over 30 public meetings; conducted 9 public forums; gained direct feedback of more than 100 educators; provided tours of AHS; and met with numerous residents, students, student groups, community organizations and community members. The work is ongoing, and the goal is to bring forth a proposal, reflecting a wide-range of feedback, for a school that will serve our community for a minimum of 50 years.

The Andover High School Building Committee Meeting met on 9/28/23 beginning at 6:30 PM.

The meeting and discussions focused in the following areas:

• Presentation of AHS space, usage, and methodology showing 108% utilization for the current school year
• Committee vote to remove from consideration the use of a heavy timber (versus steel) for structural support in some areas of the new building due to cost
• Presentation of existing traffic conditions based on a traffic study and multiple days of car counts
• Updated site circulation plan incorporating feedback received so far

Each of these areas is describe in more detail below.

Current Space Utilization

AHS Assistant Principal and newly appointed member of the AHS Building Committee, Scott Darlington, provided a presentation and update of current space utilization metrics at Andover High. It included floorplans of the building with indication of which spaces have student classes (red dots) and which are open for other uses such as teacher planning, collaboration or swing space (green dots) during each block of the school day.

As part of their townwide facility study in 2016, MGT Consultants determined Andover High School had a space utilization rate of 117%. At that time, enrollment was 1,782 students. Mr. Darlington presented an updated analysis using the same MGT methodology showing space utilization is 108% now, with enrollment of 1,689 students.

The architecture, OPM and educational team explained best practice is to design a high school at 85% utilization to allow scheduling flexibility and recognition not every seat can be filled at every available time. With that in mind, Andover High is currently overcapacity by about 23%.

The updated 108% utilization calculation takes into consideration changes to the building since 117% was calculated in 2016:
– “makeshift” spaces have been created, including storage spaces and offices that have been converted to classrooms (see this example)
– general classrooms have been subdivided to create multiple smaller special education classes (see this example)
– sections of the library have been redeveloped to create programming spaces for engineering and business classes (while taking away from media center functions)

“Makeshift” spaces in the building have attempted to mitigate current overcrowding; however, this has exacerbated the under-sizing issues within the school. For example, the average size of the general and special education classrooms are approximately 790 net square feet (nsf) and 380 nsf respectively. Per MSBA baseline standards, general classrooms should be a minimum of 825 nsf and special education classrooms should be a minimum of 412 nsf. A summary of spaces in the current high school versus baseline state space standards for 1,700 students can be found here.

Mr. Darlington also described the domino effect of repurposing space both during and after school. As one example, because the Robotics Club uses library space after school, students who may otherwise study or do group work there will relocate to the cafeteria, which is not acoustically sound and can be distracting to students.

While the presentation and discussion applied to the current Andover High School enrollment, Mr. Darlington emphasized the need to design and plan for an expanded enrollment of 1,900 students for a 50+ year building.

Use of a Heavy Timber Structure

The use of heavy timber within the proposed building in lieu of structural steel would reduce the carbon footprint of the project and provide other design benefits. It was on the list of “added scope” item under consideration by the Committee throughout the Schematic Design as one of many sustainability aspects. The estimated cost for adding heavy timber in approximately 40% of the building is approximately $7 million.

The Committee had requested that the design team investigate reducing the scope of this item and provide costs for providing heavy timber structural elements within the gym, cafeteria, main lobby, and media center.

As a follow up to this request, HMFH Architects reviewed the following suggestions for reducing the heavy timber structure added scope item by area:

· Partial Building Spine (~12%, ~$2,270,000) – Areas viewed from the ground and first floor lobby spaces and cafeteria (most public)

· Media Center and Business Suite (~5%, ~$950,000) – Visible from the main entrance, hub of the academic wing

· Gymnasium ~4%, ~$760,000

HMFH Architects indicated that the heavy timber structure will only reduce embodied carbon if there is an “end-of-life” plan to assure the timber used in not ultimately placed in a landfill following the building’s useful life. HMFH also reviewed alternative options for reducing embodied carbon without pursuing heavy timber, which included:

· Specifying low carbon content concrete mixtures to reduce the embodied carbon of structural concrete elements

· Specifying structural steel, rebar, and structural metal deck with high recycled content

· Evaluating building planning efficiency to reduce overall use of concrete

Due to the cost, alternative options, and the inability to control compliance with an “end-of-life plan”, the Committee unanimously voted to remove the heavy timber structure added scope item from further consideration.

Existing vs. Proposed Traffic Conditions

HMFH Architects provided a summary of the work TEC, the traffic engineer for the project, has conducted. This includes traffic counts to identify the number of trips into and out of the campus from each entry point for buses, students, staff, and parents.

TEC’s data showed parent drop-off accounts for 75% of all trips into and out of the campus in the morning, and 52% of all trips during the afternoon pickup time period. As a general statement, the vehicle traffic would benefit if more students rode a bus than took cars.

Software-generated images of the existing queuing and traffic conditions along Shawsheen Road and the adjacent accessways were shown based on TEC’s site visit in September 2023.

That was compared to presentation of software-generated images showing queuing and traffic flow expected with the planned new site design with student enrollment expanded to 1,900 students. The result displayed significant improvements to the traffic and queuing conditions.

Site Circulation

Arcadis Architects, the landscape architect for the project expanded on the traffic conditions by providing an update on the proposed site design related to the bus/car circulation for pick-up/drop-off and bike/pedestrian access. Arcadis Architects spoke to ongoing efforts to reduce project costs by the design team as the design is developed and spoke to refinements to the grading plan to eliminate two retaining walls from the project as an example.

Arcadis noted that per discussions with Walk/Bike Andover, sidewalks have been designed to 12 feet (maximum dimensions recommended by Walk/Bike Andover) and include a lane of travel for both bikes and pedestrians. The preliminary site includes a network of connected sidewalks to encourage students to walk or bike to school.

Next Steps for The Project

The Select Board has called a second “Quad Board” meeting between the Select Board, Finance Committee, School Committee and AHS Building Committee. It will be held on Wednesday, October 18th at 7:00 PM in the Memorial Hall Library. At this meeting Andover school administration will review the educational impacts of potentially delaying the project and/or proceeding with an “interim approach” that was presented along with financial implications of the project by the Town Manager on September 27th. We encourage the public to join and offer feedback!

For further detail, please see the full presentation from the 9/28/23 AHS Building Committee meeting. To watch a replay of the meeting, you can find the AndoverTV recording in their meeting archive.

Please join the AHS Building Committee for our next public meeting on Thursday, September 28th at 6:30 PM in the School Committee conference room (30 Whittier Ct, 2nd floor, above the Robb Senior Center).

The AHS Building Committee meeting will begin with a discussion of the Quad Board meeting held on September 27th where Town Manager Andrew Flanagan and Chief Financial Officer Patrick Lawlor provided an overview of the financial considerations related to the proposed Andover High School Project. Mr. Flanagan and Mr. Lawlor reviewed the various financial impacts of proceeding with the current timeline for the project versus delaying the project with the hope of being accepted into the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) core program for funding assistance in the future.

There were also discussions related to a preliminary “interim plan” that would keep the building minimally functional if the building project were to be delayed. That plan would attempt to address current overcrowding and some physical building issues, while staying below the improvement threshold that would require the building to be brought up to current safety and accessibility codes. The “interim plan” presented by the Town Manager involves reconfiguring the current site to allow for detached modular classroom units, limited renovations to the existing school, and associated sitework due to impacts the existing fields/parking lots; however, this plan would need to be further evaluated for feasibility, cost, and educational impact.

We encourage you to view the recording of the Quad Board meeting in AndoverTV’s online meeting archive to learn more about the costs and impacts associated with proceeding with the current project or delaying it. A subsequent Quad-board meeting will tentatively be held in October to review the educational impacts if the current project were to be delayed.

At Thursday’s Building Committee meeting, Andover High School’s Assistant Principal and newly appointed AHS Building Committee Member, Scott Darlington will present an analysis conducted of the current space utilization at Andover High School. Mr. Darlington will review the space utilization rate, room usage by period, existing classroom spaces, and make-shift spaces that have been created to address current overcrowding.

The Committee will then continue discussions related to the Heavy Timber Structure potential added scope item currently under consideration. HMFH Architects will review potential reductions to the scope of this item including costs for using heavy timber structural elements within only select individual areas of the building, for example just the gym, cafeteria, main lobby, or media center.

HMFH Architects will conclude the presentation with an update on the existing and proposed traffic conditions, vehicular circulation, and pedestrian/bike circulation.

The full agenda for the meeting can be found here on the Town website. The meeting will also be televised on AndoverTV, livestreamed from their website, and recorded for viewing out of their online meeting archive.

A Quad-Board Meeting of the Select Board, School Committee, Finance Committee, and Andover High School Building Committee will be held on Wednesday, September 27th at 7:00 PM in the Robb Senior Center Lifelong Learning Room (30 Whittier Ct, 1 st floor).

The meeting will include a presentation by the Town Manager and Chief Financial Officer regarding the financial considerations related to the proposed Andover High School Project. As part of the presentation, the Town Manager will review the various financial impacts of proceeding with the current timeline for the project versus delaying the project with the hope of being accepted into the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) core program for funding assistance in the future.

This meeting comes as a result of the AHS Building Committee’s 8/8/2023 vote on a warrant article requesting an additional $1.3M to complete the Schematic Design phase, with a recommendation for the Select Board to call a Special Town Meeting to consider the warrant article.

As a reminder, the current timeline for the project is as follows:

• Special Town Meeting vote to authorize $1.3 million to complete Phase 2 of Schematic Design (targeting Fall 2023)
• Development of Schematic Design-level drawings and specifications, construction cost estimating, and development of a total project budget (targeting early 2024)
• Special Town Meeting vote to authorize full project funding approval – requires 66%+ positive vote to pass (targeting February/March 2024)
• Ballot box vote by community to authorize full project funding approval – requires 50%+ positive vote to pass (targeting February/March 2024)
• Construction start (targeting Summer 2025)
• New building complete for student and faculty move-in (targeting Fall 2028)
• Full project complete, including site work (targeting Summer 2030)

The agenda for the meeting can be found here on the Town website.

The meeting will also be televised on AndoverTV, livestreamed from their website, and recorded for viewing out of their online meeting archive.

The Andover High School Building Committee Meeting met on 9/14/23 beginning at 7:50 AM. Topics included: updated rough project costs based on the March 2023 preliminary Feasibility Study (FS) cost information, potential use of heavy timber structure in the building, and presentation of a revised building massing & interior scheme. A replay of the meeting can be found in the Andover TV archive and highlights are summarized below:

Updated Rough Project Cost

As the project continues through the Schematic Design (SD) Phase, Andover Public Schools and the AHS Building Committee have been working with the design team to help define the scope of the project. As part of this, the space summary has been refined to better reflect the school’s educational needs, and the Committee has been making informed decisions related to scope adds and deducts.

Based on costs estimated at the Feasibility Study level of detail (March 2023), the estimated total project cost was roughly $484 million. The most current cost snapshot (September 2023) shows a net $33 million decrease in total project cost, putting it at roughly $451 million.

Detail on the items impacting the cost – including what has been removed and added from the project during the Schematic Design phase – can be found here. As a summary, cost decreases have come from refining the space summary (working with educators to find areas of consolidation) and from use of less expensive materials (brick instead of rain screens, for example); increases have come from expanding the plateau to into a competition-sized field with turf.

Additionally, the Committee has voted to remove roughly $76 million in potential scope adds from the project (parking garage, porous pavement, skate park, sports lighting in front of the school, and solar panel purchase have all been removed from consideration) and the Committee is still reviewing roughly $54 million in potential scope adds (sports lighting at the plateau field, an enclosed walkway between the new school and Field House, the use of structural timber in select locations, sustainable irrigation, and mechanical system upgrades).

PMA explained that the cost figures presented are rough magnitude cost estimates that were provided during the Feasibility Study phase for comparison and decision-making purposes only. Once Schematic Design is complete, the project scope will be refined enough for professional estimators to provide a total project cost estimate, which will be brought to Andover voters for their consideration.

Heavy Timber Structure

A potential project add is is to use heavy timber, rather than structural steel, in some areas of the building. This choice would be made for environmental reasons because it would reduce the carbon footprint of the building. If 40% of the structural steel were to be replaced with heavy timber, the estimated cost would be $7 million.

Due to that overall cost, the Committee requested that the design team investigate reducing the scope of this item, and provide costs for using heavy timber structural elements within only an area of the building, for example just the the gym, cafeteria, main lobby, or media center.

Building Massing

HMFH Architects briefly reviewed previous building massing option 1B and option 2A that had elicited the most discussion at the August 24th building committee meeting. They then presented a new option 3, which reflects feedback received to date:

Option 3 includes a central spine of shared spaces (cafeteria and media center), with athletics and performing arts on the East side of the building, and academics on the West side. Administration is located next to each the front (main office) and back entrances (guidance & nursing), and the media center is on the third and fourth floors. The design also provides two outdoor learning spaces, including one that adjoins the cafeteria and maker spaces. The Option 3 floor plans can be found beginning on slide 20 of the September 14th presentation.

HMFH also presented various shadow studies for each of the 3 options. A goal for placement, orientation, and design of the building is to allow natural light into the academic wings and exterior courtyards.

Why Design Matters

HMFH concluded the meeting presentation with information from “Schools for Health Home.” Schools For Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 6 Mar. 2020, schools.forhealth.org/ related to the impacts of a buildings’ environment on faculty and students. Here were the key-takeaways:

• Thermal Comfort: Several large studies show thermal health can influence academic performance. Students’ academic performance could significantly benefit from adequately maintaining thermal comfort in classrooms

• Classroom Acoustics: Research has shown that chronic exposures to internal and external sources of noise can lead to deficits in test scores

• Lighting and Access to Natural Light: Students in classrooms with access to green views through their windows have been observed to experience significantly faster recovery from stress and mental fatigue and performed significantly higher on tests of attentional functioning. Helps keep circadian sleep-wake cycle in proper alignment. Circadian rhythms influence basic cognitive processes such as attention, working memory, and executive function.

• Air Quality: Improving Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) can positively affect cognitive function outcomes, such as decision-making, attention, concentration, and memory. Studies have found that higher ventilation rates and low CO2 levels can positively affect cognitive function. Multiple studies have shown that when steps to mitigate poor IEQ are taken, students’ academic performance improves.

Upcoming Building Committee Meetings

The next AHS Building Committee meeting will be Thursday, 9/28/23 in the School Committee conference room (30 Whittier Ct, 2nd floor, above the Robb Senior Center).

The Committee will also be hosting community tours of the existing Andover High School on Saturday, 9/30/23 from 9-11am, followed by a forum from 11am-12pm in the Andover TV studio located with the high school.

For more information on the 9/14/23 AHS Building Committee meeting, please see the full meeting presentation. To watch a replay of the meeting, you can find the AndoverTV recording in their meeting archive.

Join us! The next meeting of the AHS Building Committee is tomorrow, Thursday, September 14, 2023 beginning at 7:50 AM in the School Committee conference room.

The primary focus of the meeting will be continuing to refine the building massing, with a look and what functions would reside in each section of the building, along with potential floor plans. We are expecting an updated scheme and new physical model that incorporate prior feedback.

Additionally, the meeting will include:

• discussion of rough project costs, including update from decisions made since the March 2023 estimate
• continued discussion of project deductions and additions to refine scope
• presentation of an updated building massing scheme based on feedback received so far
• discussion of ongoing community outreach (Please let us know if we can attend your event for a discussion!)

The full agenda can be found on the town website. The meeting will also be televised live on public access TV, livestreamed from the AndoverTV website, and recorded for later viewing out of the AndoverTV archive.

Building Committee meetings typically alternate between mornings (2nd Thursday of each month) and evenings (4th Thursday of each month) with the hope people with varying schedules can attend. Even if you cannot attend in person, you can always send feedback, questions, or comments about the project to andoverhighbuildingproject@andoverma.us.

The Building Committee has received several questions about the high temperatures within Andover High School resulting from this week’s weather. Below we are pasting information from a prior AHS Facilities FAQ that summarizes facility conditions identified in 2018 which make HVAC upgrades challenging and expensive.

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Q3. Why is the temperature within Andover High often uncomfortable in winter and summer? What are the major contributing factors?

A3. The climate control systems in Andover High are well maintained and actively managed, even earning Energy Star rating for the efficiency of current systems. However, these current systems rely on old technology and major components — including boilers and unit ventilators — that are reaching the end of useful life and need replacement.

HVAC experts have observed that meaningful replacement of Andover High’s aging climate control technology would best be supported by also upgrading other critical energy components.

For example, almost all high school windows are drafty and do not sufficiently block UV light, allowing heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. Unit ventilators are the large boxes typically seen under windows along exterior walls to heat outside air as it enters classrooms during cold weather. The technology they use has been largely unchanged in over 60 years.

But most notably, the current building is constructed of concrete with no insulation in the original exterior walls and with floors that create a “thermal bridge” by extending past the building façade, thereby drawing heat out of the building in the winter and increasing room temperatures in the warmer months.

Replacing the extensive unit ventilator system without also addressing the building envelope of the original building would provide only very limited climate improvement.*

Additionally, in each classroom, unit ventilators bring outside air into the building to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. When rooms are overcrowded, CO2 increases faster than heating elements can keep up with the airflow, resulting in cold outside air being blown into classrooms throughout the winter. The unit ventilators are also loud and distract from learning.

A facility project that simply replaces unit ventilators in-kind — rather than upgrading the heating technology and improving the building envelope — will bring a continuation of the same climate control problems, and may not even save money in the long run. In addition to solving these problems, a modern climate system would bring an opportunity for replacing the unit ventilation system with a displacement air system similar to the system installed at Bancroft Elementary. This would increase comfort during shoulder seasons and allow year-round use of the building.

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Taken from: https://aps1.net/…/9109/AHS-Facilities-FAQ–2018-09-13V2

* Addressing just the building envelope (not including any mechanical system upgrades) was estimated to cost more than $40 million in 2018, and construction costs have escalated since that time.

In March 2023, the AHS project underwent a Feasibility Study cost estimation exercise. Costs determined during the Feasibility Study stage are always preliminary, largely based on total gross floor area and time required to construct the different schemes, and escalated using industry standard multipliers to arrive at costs. 

Further information on the process used for AHS can be found under Feasibility Design Cost Estimates heading in this news post: Updates from the March 30th Building Committee Meeting

The Building Committee has used these feasibility study cost estimates for two main purposes:

1. To compare multiple feasibility study approaches to each other.

The information assisted the Committee in narrowing the final three design options to a single, preferred option.

For example, knowing a renovation was more expensive than construction of a new building was a helpful contributing factor to the final selection of the “Campus 2 plus new auditorium” site approach.

2. To have a rough idea of cost for potential additions or subtractions to the project scope.

The community and project team have identified several areas of high impact, where decisions need to be made to define the project scope. These items are summarized in the categories of either potential cost-saving measures or potential added-scope items and are described in more detail on the Design Items For Schematic Design page.

For example, consolidation and adjustment of space sizes has resulted in an approximate reduction of $17.35 million ($1.15 million for each 1,000 net square feet); upgrading the mechanical plant to heat pumps or geothermal could increase costs between roughly $17 million and $42 million prior to considering energy rebates.

A September 2023 snapshot summary of scope and cost (based on March 2023 estimates) can be found in this presentation. It describes total estimated cost of the project declining from roughly $484 million in March to roughly $452 million in September based on decisions made in public discussions by the Building Committee. It also summarizes items that are still under consideration which could impact the current snapshot.

The project is now in the Schematic Design phase, where the single preferred option is developed, and every aspect of the project is scrutinized and discussed with the benefit of feedback from stakeholders throughout the schools, town, and community.

Schematic Design will produce much more specific design documents as opposed to the preliminary Feasibility Study diagrams, including those which define structural, mechanical, electrical, fire protection systems; materials; floor plans; and a more developed site design.

With the project more firmly defined, the Schematic Design phase will conclude with another cost estimating exercise, this time meant to establish the total project budget for consideration of approval by Andover voters.

The Andover High School Building Committee Meeting met on 8/24/23 beginning at 6:30 PM. Meeting highlights are summarized below:

Skate Park

The meeting began with an update from Andrew Flanagan, Town Manager, and AHS Building Committee Member on the proposed skate park. Mr. Flanagan noted that the Town has decided to exclude a skate park from the Andover High School Project and will be investigating the feasibility of constructing a new skate park elsewhere in Town.

Following this, the Committee unanimously voted to remove the skate park from the project with the understanding that the Town will explore alternate site locations. The cost of the skate park (~$4,7010,00) was not included within the preliminary Feasibility Study cost information presented in late March / early April 2023, and therefore, this decision to exclude this scope from the project does not impact the project budget.

Sports Lighting

Next, the Committee heard from Wayne Puglisi, Andover’s Athletic Director, on the value of adding sports lighting to the project. Mr. Puglisi shared a draft Fall sports schedule overviewing the available practice/game timeslots for the proposed site design assuming that the plateau field is lit.

Mr. Puglisi noted that adding sports lighting to just the plateau field would allow for all teams to practice on site during the Fall season (AHS’ busiest sports season), and that lighting additional fields would increase the number of available timeslots.

Currently, some teams are forced to practice off campus due to the limited number of available timeslots in the Fall. After multiple AHS Building Committee meetings and Community Forums seeking feedback from the community and Town staff on sports lighting, the Committee voted to remove sports lighting at the multipurpose field, baseball field, and softball field from the project; however, kept sports lighting at the plateau field open for further consideration.

Site Circulation

Following the discussions on the skate park and sports lighting, the design team focused the presentation on traffic circulation, parking, building massing/layout, and preliminary interior floor plans. The landscape architect, Arcadis Architects, reviewed the design principles to reduce traffic congestion which included the following:

• Place parking at the perimeter
• Provide two zones for arrival and dismissal
• Separate bus and car queuing
• Maximize queuing and circulation options
• Minimize need for enforcement
• Prioritize student pedestrian experience

Arcadis then reviewed various traffic configurations for buses and cars in the morning and in the afternoon for both the High School and West Middle School. Arcadis noted that the configuration/options presented are preliminary and are subject to change as the design team seeks feedback from the Committee, Town staff, and the community. The preliminary traffic designs are included within slides 10-20 of the 8/24/23 AHS Building Committee presentation.

Building Massing

The design team then shifted focus to building massing and preliminary interior floor plans, which is a continued discussion from the 7/27/23 AHS Building Committee meeting.

HMFH Architects presented 4 preliminary building massing models along with initial interior floor plans showing different space configurations for each option (click each picture to enlarge):

The Committee, project team, and community reviewed the physical building models for each option and discussed the various advantages and disadvantages of each. HMFH Architects will look for the Committee to decide on a building massing model in the coming weeks to allow for further refinement of the building design and development of the Schematic Design pricing documents.

Feedback Encouraged

The public is encouraged to provide feedback on these massing models and any other aspect of the project by emailing andoverhighbuildingproject@andoverma.us. We look forward to your feedback!

The full meeting presentation can be found here. To watch a replay of the meeting, you can find the AndoverTV recording in their meeting archive.

Please join the AHS Building Committee for our next public meeting on Thursday, August 24th at 6:30 PM in the School Committee conference room (30 Whittier Ct, 2nd floor, above the Robb Senior Center).

The landscape architect, Arcadis Architects and the traffic consultant, The Engineering Corp (TEC) will continue their presentation of the preliminary site design and traffic circulation from the 8/8/23 AHS Building Committee meeting.

Arcadis and TEC will review draft design options for pickup and drop-off, vehicle queuing areas, circulation through the project site, bike and walk paths, access and egress points from Moraine Street and Shawsheen Road, and parking configurations.

The site design and traffic circulation will evolve during Schematic Design as the project team continues to meet with the Committee, Andover Public Schools, community members, Andover Police & Fire, Facilities, and other Town Departments for feedback on the draft design options.

HMFH Architects will also further review the preliminary building massing models and interior floor plans with the Committee, which were initially discussed during the 7/27/23 AHS Building Committee meeting. HMFH will examine initial interior space configurations, as well as the size and orientation of the new building on the project site.

Additionally, the presentation will include further discussions related to potential added scope items including sports lighting and a skate park. HMFH Architects will review the costs associated with adding sports field lighting, preliminary pole heights/counts, and lighting impacts for the Committee to consider. The Committee also anticipates Andrew Flanagan, Town Manager, and AHS Building Committee member will provide recommendation around whether a skate park should be included in the scope of the project.

Sports lighting and the skate park were not included within the preliminary total project estimate presented during the Feasibility Study phase in March/April 2023. If accepted, the scope will be included in the Schematic Design documents and the costs will be further refined at the end of the Schematic Design phase within the total project budget. The Committee anticipates a decision regarding sports lighting and the skate park will be made during the 8/24/23 AHS Building Committee Meeting.

The full agenda can be found here on the Town website.

The meeting will also be televised on AndoverTV, livestreamed from their website, and recorded for viewing out of their online meeting archive.