Salem hires Shawmut–W.T. Rich joint construction team to lead high school project

The Salem High School Building Committee on Sept. 25 introduced the construction management team the city selected to lead the new-construction project and heard the firms’ approach to estimating, preconstruction and site oversight. Acting project speakers said the joint team of Shawmut Construction and W.T. Rich Company will provide dual independent estimates, expanded subcontractor competition and combined quality-control procedures as the district moves toward schematic-design cost confirmation this fall. "We're going to use both our databases to do takeoff," Shawmut vice president Mark Malquist said. "That is going to provide a much more accurate first estimate." John Rich, chief executive of W.T. Rich Company, said the firms combined strengths — Shawmut's large-project capacity and W.T. Rich's Massachusetts public-school experience — were the reason for the joint proposal. The design team and the committee will use the firms' preconstruction work to refine costs ahead of the December 17 schematic-design submission to the Massachusetts School Building Authority. Shawmut's chief estimator, Sam Henner, reported the project budget is in line with recent MSBA schools and estimated roughly $1,000 per square foot, producing an order-of-magnitude total near $350 million. The committee did not make any final budget or contracting decisions at the meeting. The firms outlined staffing for the job: an on-site executive (named Tom Larko in the presentation), dedicated senior superintendents and a preconstruction team to lead value-engineering and coordination. They also described tools and procedures they will deploy: independent dual estimating, collaboration software for preconstruction and a structured quality program during construction. Committee members asked about timing and next steps; staff said the city attorney and project staff were finalizing contract language and would deliver the agreement to the firms for execution. No vote on the construction-manager contract occurred at the Sept. 25 meeting.