Coburn School takes shape, on track to open in August

Jan. 19, 2022 | Lauren LeBel
llebel@thereminder.com

The new Coburn Elementary School is being constructed behind the existing one at 115 Southworth St. in downtown West Springfield.
Reminder Publishing photo by Lauren LeBel

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Construction is ramping up at the new Coburn School, as the countdown to its Aug. 26 opening begins.

About a year ago, houses behind the existing Coburn School were torn down, the first step toward replacing the nearly 100-year-old elementary school that serves the downtown area. Fontaine Brothers, the general contractor, broke ground at 115 Southworth St. in February 2021. Covering 117,288 square feet, the new building is expected to welcome elementary students on their first day of the 2022-23 school year.

Robert Alger, senior project manager and site representative from NV5, and Vito Perrone, assistant superintendent for the West Springfield School Department, recently provided Reminder Publishing with a tour of the new school.

The metal frame of the school is up, showing a main corridor that splits a three-story section and two-story section.

Alger explained that there are classrooms on all three floors with a “bathroom, storage room, cubbies in each classroom.” Many classrooms are also equipped for the installation of a projector.

The first floor is home to the gymnasium, cafeteria and kitchen. Dividing the gym and the cafeteria is a stage that has curtains on each side, so it can be used for audiences in either of the two large gathering spaces.

The main floor will also have classrooms for the youngest students, in kindergarten, first grade and some second graders. Three kindergarten classes will move out of John Ashley School so that kindergartners in the Coburn district can attend classes in their neighborhood school.

Some special education programs will move from Cowing School, which will close, to the new Coburn.

On the second floor, which is the nearest to completion, Alger said workers have begun hanging drywall. He added that this floor will have third and fourth grade classrooms, along with some second-grade classrooms. In addition, there is a reading room, along with a VAV system that regulates or controls the volume of air distribution.

The third floor mostly houses the upper grades, fourth and fifth, said Alger.
This level has five air handlers in one energy recovery ventilation (ERV) system. Alger explained that this is responsible for distributing warm air throughout the building. As ERVs draw in clear air and remove stale air, Alger said, “It’s most efficient to clients in the end.”

One perk, as mentioned by Alger, is that the new school will have a recirculating hot water system, so people won’t have to run the taps waiting for water to warm up.

Alger said workers are working on the last of the duct work on the third floor.

The exterior of the building is made up of 2½ inches of rock wall, with insulation inside. Alger said the outside work is “basically done.” He added that his team has installed double-pane insulated windows for additional energy efficiency. The main entrance and office will have bulletproof glass. Window testing has been conducted.

The new school is being built, partially, on what used to be Coburn School’s athletic fields. There will still be open space left for athletic fields when the building is complete, Perrone said. The current school will be torn down, and that area will become a parking lot.

Perrone said the existing Coburn building, which was built in the 1920s as a junior high school, is at capacity, and “not fit for learning” in the 21st century.

As of November, the most recent month for which invoices have been paid, about $27 million had been spent out of the total authorized budget of $69,056,380. Most of the money will be reimbursed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

MSBA has promised to reimburse 80 percent of eligible costs, though some of the spending will “not all project costs are eligible for reimbursement from the MSBA, so it’s not a simple exercise of multiplying the reimbursement rate (80 percent) times the project cost,” Alger said. “There are multiple caps on costs that the MSBA deems ineligible.”

Perrone said the state won’t be able to calculate a final reimbursement figure until all the construction costs are known, including variables like the cost of fixtures. He said based on known caps and limits in the MSBA’s regulations, the maximum that the state would reimburse is $39,300,000. Assuming the project stays within budget, that would leave just under $30 million to be borne by bonds paid off by local taxpayers.

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