By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD – The project for the new High School is proceeding on time and on budget, SMMA architect Brian Black told the School Committee at their meeting Tuesday, Dec. 12. “There’s a lot of pressure to get things open on time, but there’s a lot of people working very hard on it,” he said, referring to the timeline of construction starting in the spring, the school opening in early 2027 and all site work being done by December 2027. The cost is $220,458,859.
By December 1, 60% of construction documents had been submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority with 90% of construction documents done. “We’re expecting comments from the MSBA before Christmas,” Black said. “The design of the new High School has not changed much, but we’re working on coordinating the activities of various designers, which will become the trades that will work in the building. It might be good to hear from the construction manager at some point to walk you through the construction phase.”
“I’m pleasantly surprised at how quick the fields will be done,” School Committee chair Amy Leeman reacted.
Effort is also being put towards graphic design within the building. “It tends to lag in the schedule, but it’s an important piece of the environment at a school,” Black said. “Elements are being advanced and refined and, I’d say, improved.”
He defined graphic design as “a representation of what’s in the school and the culture. It can be creative and colorful and have inspirational phrases. It’s sort of the decoration of the interior of the school.”
The goals of Environmental Graphic Design (EGD) are to promote a strong sense of Wakefield Pride by connecting the town’s rich history with the town’s culture today, create visual and content strategies that allow for engaging educational opportunities inside and outside classrooms, provide clear and functional way-finding to enhance place-making throughout the school and respond to interior and architectural concepts and elements.
The EGD concept is “Celebrating Togetherness and Community,” based in part on a survey of 175 students, 34 staff and 75 community members. Elements from the past might include images of rattans symbolizing strength, flexibility, unity, diversity and creativity drawing on the history of industry in the town.
Commonly used sites in town for community gathering might be featured, symbolizing the natural beauty, shared history and historic charm of Wakefield. Black said these places are those “where everyone loves to spend time.”
There might also be inspirational messages that might start out with “It’s a great day to be a …, ” with the rest of the sentence filled in with things like “a Warrior,” or “a teammate,” among many other things. “Diversity Equity and Inclusion is an important element of education in the last few years; it’s come to the forefront,” Black said. “There is an underlying desire to celebrate togetherness we got; we saw a lot about wellness and supporting each other. We integrated that idea into the project.”
Spaces for art and graphic design will include panels and walls in common areas and the gym, Black said, using the common space is “an opportunity to celebrate accomplishments, make announcements and enliven the spaces with the gym a big opportunity to use school colors and logos,” but he also cautioned, “As I say the word enliven, I catch myself. Many times we’re trying to create a sense of calm.”
He also joked, “I think we’ll have to double up on the trophy cases to keep up with all the athletics,” a reference to an earlier appearance by Athletic Director Brendan Kent and members of the boys soccer and girls cross country teams.
Senior captain Charlotte O’Neil and next year’s captains Grace Brackett and Lily Sallee represented the cross country team, which were undefeated Middlesex League champions, state Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 2B state champions and MIAA Division 2 all-state champions.
Senior team captain Reid Festel and junior Charles Gagne represented the soccer team, which were league champions and advanced all the way to the state championship game before losing to Oliver Ames High School in overtime.
“I appreciate hearing about the other side of the coin in terms of the design process,” School Committee member Stephen Ingalls reacted, while wondering if the survey was fully representative of the community. “I like what I’m hearing, but the community is very diverse,” he said. “I want to make sure we’re hearing from enough diverse choices, but I don’t know how to get the word out. Maybe an article in the Item?”
