Blue Hills Regional begins $85M renovation project
By Guest
L-R: Blue Hills Supt.-Director James Quaglia, Blue Hills School Committee Chair Marybeth Nearen, MSBA Executive Director Jack McCarthy, State Treasurer and MSBA Chair Deborah Goldberg, Rep. William Galvin, Rep. Mark Cusack, and Senator Walter Timilty. (Judy Bass photo)
A momentous event featuring remarks from school administrators and state officials as well as a groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of an $84.8 million renovation project at Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton on June 25.
The project, which is expected to conclude in September 2019, will include numerous significant upgrades to infrastructure such as improved Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, life safety systems, new HVAC and plumbing, new electrical systems, new windows and entries, an improved roof, and new locker rooms and lockers.
Serving as the master of ceremonies and introductory speaker was Blue Hills Superintendent-Director James Quaglia, who is also chair of the School Building Committee, which has overseen the project since its inception. He continues to play a key role in moving the project forward.
Among the guests, some of whom delivered remarks lauding Blue Hills Regional and citing the importance of vocational technical education, were State Treasurer and Massachusetts School Building Authority Chair Deborah Goldberg; MSBA Executive Director Jack McCarthy; state Senator Walter Timilty; state Rep. William Galvin; state Rep. Mark Cusack; Jen Barsamian, representing state Rep. Paul McMurtry; Blue Hills District School Committee Chair Marybeth Nearen of Randolph; District School Committee members Kevin Connolly and Eric Erskine; Blue Hills Director of Facilities/IT Gene Mastro; Westwood selectmen Michael Walsh and Nancy Hyde; and representatives from the three companies involved in this project: Owner’s Project Manager Dore & Whittier of Newburyport, the architectural firm Drummey Rosane Anderson of Waltham, and the construction management firm Consigli.
In her remarks, Treasurer Goldberg mentioned the true focus of this project. “It’s about kids and teachers,” she said, adding that vocational technical schools like Blue Hills are a pivotal factor in the vibrancy of the economy.
Harkening back to the school’s 50th anniversary in 2016, Nearen said, “We want to continue the Blue Hills tradition of providing students with the best career and technical education possible for another 50 years and another 50 after that. To do so, however, we need to have a facility that is state-of-the-art in every way. This school renovation project will ensure that we have such a facility for generations to come.”
Over half the cost — 55.89 percent — will be reimbursed by the MSBA, a government agency that, according to its website, makes “reimbursements to cities, towns and regional school districts for school construction projects.”
All of the school district’s nine towns — Avon, Braintree, Canton, Dedham, Holbrook, Milton, Norwood, Randolph and Westwood — officially green-lighted the project by giving their approval to Blue Hills Regional to borrow the necessary funds.
All of the planned renovations at the school are required to provide a safe, smoothly functioning, modern educational environment.
Quaglia has emphasized the urgent necessity of making these improvements. “This is all about ‘need-to-haves’ and not ‘nice-to haves,’” he said in an interview last fall.
Construction performed during the school year will take place on the second and third shifts, with educational spaces returned to “close to normal” during the day. Work on vocational areas, locker rooms, offices and athletic spaces will be done during the summer.
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