Longmeadow schedules public engagement as middle school schematic, budget near completion

Longmeadow School Committee announced a public engagement event for the town's new middle school project on Thursday, April 10, as the schematic design phase and budget reconciliation near completion.

The superintendent told the committee, “We have a public engagement event scheduled for Thursday, April 10,” and described the session as an open forum with stations for attendees to meet members of the building committee, the design team and administrative staff. The session will be held in a format intended to let community members visit different information stations and ask questions.

Committee members and staff said two estimating teams have been engaged in reconciliation meetings over recent days to pin down the overall project budget. The superintendent said prospective construction managers at risk (CMARs) must submit materials by the deadline on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. The schematic design and associated budget will be considered by the building committee at its April 16 meeting and may be voted on April 29.

The superintendent credited School Committee Chair Nicole for developing the public engagement concept and said project leadership has been meeting with the design team and estimators to provide feedback as work finishes the schematic design phase. The committee encouraged broad community participation at the April 10 event and said more details will be posted online and shared by the building committee.

The project remains in the pre-construction design and budget phase; no construction contract award or final appropriation was announced at the meeting. The building committee will take the next formal steps when it meets on April 16 and, if ready, may hold a vote on April 29.