State Treasurer Steven Grossman, Chairman of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (“MSBA”), and Jack McCarthy, MSBA Executive Director, announced today that the MSBA Board of Directors voted to move the Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Lynn to the next phase in the MSBA capital pipeline. The Schematic Design phase will look at possible options for the replacement of the school with a new facility on the site of the current school building. The next step is for the MSBA to work in collaboration with the District to produce detailed designs for a potential school project.
“Listening to the needs of a community and developing projects accordingly are priorities at the MSBA, and the Thurgood Marshall Middle School project is a case study in that sentiment,” said Treasurer Grossman. “Thanks to our collaborative work with local officials, we are working to build a safe and modern educational facility that will provide students with a top-notch learning environment.”
The proposed project would replace the existing Thurgood Marshall School with a new 181,847 square-foot facility serving 1,100 students in grades 6 through 8. The current school was built in 1923 and suffers from deficiencies in mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. Structural integrity and roofing issues have also been identified in the school.
“It has been a pleasure collaborating with Lynn officials throughout this process,” Executive Director McCarthy said. “Now, production and approval of a schematic design will help us to determine the final budget for the potential project.”
The MSBA partners with Massachusetts communities to support the design and construction of educationally-appropriate, flexible, sustainable and cost-effective public school facilities. Since its 2004 inception, the Authority has made over $9.6 billion in reimbursements for school construction projects. These timely payments have saved districts over $2.9 billion in avoided local interest costs and have provided much needed cash flow to communities.
