Old Colony building committee outlines $288 million plan; district-wide vote set for Nov. 18

LAKEVILLE, Mass. — The Old Colony School Building Committee presented a schematic-design plan for a new regional vocational-technical high school to the Town of Lakeville Select Board and Finance Committee on Sept. 9, outlining a $288 million total project budget, a state grant projection of just under $130 million from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) and a district share of about $159 million to be split among the five sending towns if voters approve the project on Nov. 18.

“This is just a milestone,” Shirley Burke, chair of the Old Colony school building project committee, said at the Sept. 9 meeting. “We are not at the end of that journey.”

The plan would replace the 50-year-old Old Colony facility, expand enrollment to 776 students and add three programs — plumbing, HVAC and dental assisting — that the building committee said align with regional labor-market demand. Presenters said the existing facility has systems beyond their useful life, lacks water redundancy and fire protection, and falls short of current state space standards for vocational programs.

The project is advancing through the MSBA process. Walter Hartley, owner’s project manager with PMA Consultants, told the meeting Old Colony completed schematic design and submitted materials to the MSBA on Aug. 28 and is seeking MSBA approval at the board of directors’ meeting on Oct. 29. If MSBA and voters approve the plan, the design schedule calls for three more submissions to the MSBA over about a year, bidding, a 2027 site start and an expected occupancy around September 2029.