The following district presented on the progress of their proposed project at the January 22, 2020 Massachusetts School Building Authority ("MSBA") Facilities Assessment Subcommittee ("FAS") Meeting:
City of Worcester
Doherty Memorial High School
Current Phase: Feasibility Study
Owner's Project Manager: Tishman Construction Corporation of Massachusetts
Designer: Lamoureux Pagano Associates | Architects, Inc.
The City of Worcester (the "District"), the Owner’s Project Manager, and design team presented an overview of the options studied during the Feasibility Study and the District's preferred solution to replace the existing Doherty Memorial High School with a new facility on the existing site. The FAS, MSBA staff, and the District discussed: 1) the proposed gymnasium design with movable partitions and MSBA’s gymnasium square footage policy; 2) storage of gym, wellness, and adaptive physical education equipment; 3) the relationship between the Educational Program and building design, including makerspaces, science programs, adjacencies of the Biotechnical program, student class sizes, grade and departmental groupings, and, student navigation of the building; 4) the location of the Performing Arts Makerspace relative to the auditorium; 5) appreciation of the building’s compact design and relationship between public and academic spaces; 6) distribution of Special Education spaces; 7) district’s plan to simultaneously incorporate three additional Chapter 74 approved programs; 8) development of the site plan including the connection to Elm Park and the approach to the building; 9) the number and location of parking spaces; and, 10) the District’s schedule related to subsequent submissions and local vote authorizations.
The FAS requested that any associated action items would be noted in the Preferred Schematic Report Review Comments due to the MSBA as part of the District's updated Preferred Schematic Report on or before February 13, 2020.
MSBA staff is currently working with the District to reach a mutually agreeable solution.