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Lowell council hears request for nearly $40 million to finish high school renovation
Summary
City and project team briefed council on a proposed $39.8 million addition to the Lowell High School project budget, citing schedule extension, contingency depletion and unforeseen conditions in century‑old buildings; councilors pressed for state aid and more details but took no vote.
Lowell City Council members on Tuesday heard a detailed briefing from the high school project team asking the council to consider an additional $39,800,000 to complete the Lowell High School renovation, which the project team said would raise the total authorized project budget to $420,000,000.
The request came during a presentation by the project team led by Jim Dowd and contractor and architect representatives from Skanska, Suffolk and Perkins Eastman. Dowd said the extra funds are needed primarily to replenish construction contingency and to cover schedule‑related costs caused by a delay in handing over the east side of campus. “That is why we’re going to run out of contingency around the first of the year,” Dowd told councilors during the presentation.
The presentation, delivered after the council took the item out of order so the public and councilors could hear it, summarized the schedule and cost drivers: Phase 3 (the east side of campus) will extend into winter 2025–26, delaying the start of Phase 4 until January 2026; Phase 4 is now estimated to take roughly 18 months with…
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