State approval for the project will lead to the scheduling of additional public information meetings.
WESTFIELD – Official application for funding and approval for construction of a new 600-student elementary school will be filed with the state’s School Building Authority by Aug. 19.
That filing is expected to allow the request to be on SBA’s September meeting agenda, local officials said. Cost of the building is estimated at $22 million to $24 million, and Westfield will be eligible for 62.7 percent state reimbursement if approved by SBA.
Project manager Paul H. Kneedler of Skanska USA Building Inc. said he is preparing the necessary documents for filing the application. The city has focused on Ashley Street for construction and replacing the former school there that serves as School Department headquarters.
The city’s School Building Committee completed a series of three public information meetings on project plans last week, and additional public sessions will be held throughout the project, providing state approval is received, Mayor Daniel M. Knapik and School Committee member Kevin J. Sullivan said.
Concerns were expressed by several neighbors of the Ashley Street site over potential traffic congestion and snow and trash removal if a new school opens there.
But Kneedler said those concerns have been documented, are under review and will be addressed as the project moves forward. “We will absolutely deal with traffic and other issues raised by neighborhood residents,” said Sullivan.
Sullivan said residents will have input on those plans as the project advances.
Knapik said the building committee will schedule additional public meetings “as significant amounts of information becomes available.”
Leslie Clark-Yvon, principal of Franklin Avenue School and a committee member, said, “We will look very carefully at the issues of traffic and snow removal.”
Additional information and a review of issues is available on the project’s website at https://bit.ly/westfieldmodelschool and questions can be addressed to westfieldmodelschool@gmail.com, Kneedler said. The School Department will consolidate students now attending Abner Gibbs and Franklin Avenue elementary schools if the new school is built. It could also house students attending Juniper Park School, which the city leases from Westfield State University.
The school design is by Margo Jones Architect of Greenfield, designer of the 10-year-old Williamstown Elementary School that SBA includes in the Model School Program of buildings that meet state approval.