School committee approves proprietary specs for Hatherly project; architects report schedule intact and costs down

The Scituate School Committee voted March 10 to approve a slate of 11 proprietary specifications for the Hatherly Elementary School project after architects reported the project remains on schedule and “on time and on or under budget.”

The superintendent introduced Don Walter, a project representative, to present a design-development update and the list of proprietary items. Architects said the project will submit a 90% package to the Massachusetts School Building Authority and go out to bid in June or early July, with construction anticipated to begin in the fall and an expected occupancy in fall 2027. The designers reported about $2.8 million in savings during design development and an additional roughly $7.6 million in later estimating reconciliations — a combined reduction the presenters described as roughly an 8% improvement compared with the schematic-design estimate.

Why it matters: the proprietary specification vote sets which specific manufacturers or products will be listed as “no substitutes” in bid…