Revere City school construction advances as bids, environmental approvals proceed

Members of the Revere School Building Committee received a construction progress update that reported demolition and site clearing are complete, contaminated-soil removal is underway and key permitting and bid milestones are scheduled over the next six weeks.

The update, delivered at the committee meeting, matters because the project must clear environmental reviews and finalize major trade bids before the committee can approve a contract amendment and full-site construction. Officials said several regulatory reviews and bid packets are timed to converge in September and October, shaping the project schedule and upcoming committee decisions.

Brian Deakin, project staff, and a representative from Consigli provided the project briefing. Deakin said the team completed demolition of existing foundations and removal or crushing of concrete rubble from the former dog track, and that contractors have placed construction trailers with power and data on site. He said contaminated-soil removal is in progress but awaits final approvals to complete that scope.

Jason, a Consigli representative, showed aerial imagery and pointed to cleared areas across the former dog track. He said erosion-control barriers and a site security fence currently limit the working area, and that full-site clearing and excavation will begin after the project receives a final environmental certificate and brings the site contractor on for full mobilization.

Deakin said the project is awaiting a MEPA (Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act) certificate and identified additional draft review letters from MWRA, DEP and MassDOT that will be shared with the Conservation Commission. He said the team expects to appear before the Conservation Commission for a final notice-of-intent approval at its Sept. 3 meeting and that the commission’s order of conditions should be issued Sept. 5.

"We still are concerned we might not get a signed copy till after Labor Day weekend," Deakin said of the MEPA certificate, but added the team had seen no surprises in the draft review letters and remained confident of the near-term permitting schedule.

The committee also heard a schedule of design and procurement milestones. Perkins Eastman’s 60% construction documents were submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) with a corresponding DESE submittal. Deakin said MSBA returned routine comments the same day and the team has 14 days to respond; the 90% construction document deadline to estimators and peer reviewers was set for Sept. 29. The design team expects to present final estimate updates in early November.

On procurement, the committee was told seven proposals were received for construction material testing, an item budgeted in the project’s total budget rather than the construction cost. Left Field and procurement staff were reviewing proposals and the project team plans to recommend an award at the committee’s next meeting, targeted for Sept. 17.

Bid-package work remained in progress for key trades. Deakin said bid packages still outstanding include structural steel, concrete, site work, elevators and underground waterproofing; he said structural steel pricing came in $5,600,000 under budget and that the team hopes to carry that trend through remaining trades. Owner-authorization letters will be issued by Consigli and executed by Left Field to allow pre-award preparations as each trade becomes ready.

The committee deferred a planned contract-amendment approval (agenda item 6) until the Sept. 17 meeting so the project team can incorporate the bid-package results and present a consolidated amendment.

Several site conditions were noted: removal of contaminated soils is ongoing and the team is waiting for nesting ospreys to vacate a light tower before removing it; Deakin said the birds typically migrate in September. Erosion-control measures are in place along the current site fence and will be extended when the site limits expand to the Eastern County Ditch following permitting clearance.

No public commenters spoke during the public-comment portion of the meeting.

The project team said the next formal procurement and permitting touchpoints are: responses to MSBA comments by Sept. 10, Conservation Commission review on Sept. 3 and a targeted SBC meeting on Sept. 17 to consider contract amendments and material-testing awards. Deakin said the design and peer-review work should be complete enough to present a final cost update in early November.

The update closed with committee members thanking staff; no formal motions or votes were taken on the construction update itself.