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 Winthrop High School to the next phase in the MSBA capital pipeline. The Schematic Design phase will look at possible options for the replacement of Winthrop Middle and High Schools with a new facility on the site of the current high 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 Winthrop High 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 middle and high schools with a new 184,000 square-foot facility serving 970 students in grades 6 through 12. The current school was built in 1965 and suffers from deficiencies in major building systems including envelope, windows, roof, doors and stairs.
“It has been a pleasure collaborating with Winthrop officials throughout this process,” Executive Director McCarthy said. “Now, production and approval of a schematic design will help 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 capital improvement 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.