The estimated rental cost of the temporary trailers, which will be used for up to 2 years, is $7 million.
A photo of the Mary A. Dryden Memorial School in Springfield days after the June 1 tornado shows extensive damage to the roof.SPRINGFIELD – The School Committee on Thursday unanimously approved plans to lease portable classrooms next year to provide needed space for students at two tornado-damaged schools.
The modular buildings will be placed in a playground to the rear of Elias Brookings School on Hancock Street and in a field next to the Mary A Dryden Veterans Memorial School on Surrey Road.
Thirty portable classroom structures, including 20 two-story units and 10 one-story units, are needed outside Brookings, leased for two years while that building is renovated and rebuilt, Assistant Schools Superintendent Daniel Warwick said. The lease cost is estimated at $7 million and will provide space for all students, including cafeteria space and for other needs.
The city will be seeking federal disaster aid to cover the cost of the leases at both schools.
Three modular classrooms are planned at Dryden, in an adjacent field, needed for a one-year period while a wing of that building is rebuilt, Warwick said.
The lease for the Dryden classrooms is estimated at $700,000.
“They are beautiful classrooms, very comfortable,” Warwick said.
The Elias Brookings Elementary School on Hancock Street is shown boarded up days after the June 1 tornado. The school sustained extensive damage, and classes will be taught in portable classes next year as the building is repairedEach portable classroom averages 850 square feet, was previously used in Massachusetts and meets all state School Building Authority requirements, Warwick said.
School Committee Finance Subcommittee Chairman Christopher Collins said the use of portable classrooms is “a great plan” and will be ready for the start of the school year in late August. The subcommittee and Superintendent of Schools Alan J. Ingram recommended approval.
“It gets all these students back in their home neighborhood,” Collins said.
The portable units are similar to modular homes, with air conditioning, heating, bathrooms and full electrical needs, he said.
Warwick said he has spoken to many of the teachers and parents, and they were pleased with the plans. It was important to keep the students in the immediate area, he said.
The Brookings School is structurally sound, but will take two years to rebuild due to the damage from the June 1 tornado, Warwick said. The portable classrooms will also fit the pre-school children there, he said.
At Dryden, the pre-school children will relocate to the Harris School.