The following districts presented on the progress of their proposed projects at the May 24, 2023 Massachusetts School Building Authority (the “MSBA”) Facilities Assessment Subcommittee (the “FAS”) Meeting:
Town of New Bedford
John B. DeValles Elementary School
Current Phase: Feasibility Study
Owner’s Project Manager: P-Three Inc. in collaboration with Atlantic Construction & Management, Inc
Designer: Turowski2 Architecture, Inc.
The Town of New Bedford (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 to proceed into Schematic Design for a project that proposes to consolidate the student population of the existing John B. DeValles Elementary School and the James B. Congdon Elementary School and construct a new facility serving grades K-5 on an alternative site referred to as the Goodyear site. The FAS, MSBA staff, and the District discussed: appreciation for the site plan, building layout and adjacent outdoor learning and play spaces, location of the proposed parking and vehicle circulation in relation to the building, character and scale of the building in relation to the surrounding neighborhood, appreciation of playfulness in the building design and separation of public spaces from classroom wing, opportunities to simplify the building envelope as the design progresses, site constraints, the proposed building massing and canting of the roof, efficiency of the floor plan and wayfinding within the building, appreciation of the Educational Program and Kindergarten/Grade 1 looping, distribution of Special Education spaces, sheltered access to the building for individuals with limited mobility, school department leadership transition and continuity of educational vision, considerations associated with acute angles within the classrooms, including supervision, storage and furniture, and circulation on the first floor as it relates to connections between the classroom wing and access to the Media Center.
MSBA staff is currently working with the District to reach a mutually agreeable solution to recommend to the MSBA’s Board of Directors.
