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Building our Future

Project Update

From the Superintendent — Construction activities on the Ballfield Road campus October 30 through November 15:

NEW – A Temporary Parking Lot is being developed

All of the modular trailers are now set in place and seaming the classrooms together is being completed.  A corridor connecting two sections of the building is being constructed and the roofs are being refurbished.  Each of the trailers will be anchored to the foundation.

Work has begun to create a temporary parking lot that will serve the temporary K-4 school for the 2021 and 2022 school years.  Once the project is complete and the modular trailers have been removed, the parking lot will also be removed and the center field will be restored.  Paving of the parking lot is scheduled to take place on November 12th.

Please be aware that there may be increases in truck traffic as construction debris related to the setting of the trailers is removed from the site along with actions being taken associated with creating the parking lot.

What you won’t see is all of the work that is taking place to prepare the interior of the modular classrooms for use.  Over the next couple of months, the interior of the temporary building will be renovated and refurbished creating a “new school” for our use in August 2020.

Next SBC Meeting: THURSDAY, November 14th, 7:00pm, Hartwell multipurpose room.

This Saturday, November 2nd!

  • 9:00am — Special Town Meeting (times after this are approximate)
  • 9:30 — Welcome
  • 9:35 — School Project Update
  • 9:45 — Setting the Context
  • 10:00 — South Lincoln Zoning Proposals
  • 11:15 — Community Electricity Aggregation
  • 11:30 — Property Tax Study Committee Update
  • 12:15 — Open Forum

For more information, visit http://www.lincolntown.org/1115/2019-Special-Town-MeetingState-of-the-To

Nearing the end of the 90% Construction Documents Phase

The 90% Construction Documents (90%CDs) were submitted for a final round of cost estimates on October 15th, and the estimates will be presented to the SBC at its November 14th meeting. This is the last round of estimates before the bid documents are finalized in December.

Below is an outline of the project schedule and milestones. The entire Daedalus presentation can be found here.

Saturday, November 2nd, 9:00am: Special Town Meeting & State of the Town Meeting, Lincoln School Auditorium. The SBC will present a project update.

Settling into place…

All the modular units are in place, and work in underway to connect them. Each unit contains the halves of two classrooms and half a hallway, so when two get attached, they create two classrooms and a part of a hallway. All the units will be connected so that it is a self-contained K-4 building.

Dates to Note…

Inside & Out

At last week’s meeting, the SBC got a look at the latest refinements to the interior design of the school. The design and color palette will knit together the renovated and new portions of the building. The image above shows the new entry lobby of the school. See how this kind of ceiling looks in real life here, and see other interior images here.

As reported in earlier posts, the SBC went through a Value Engineering (VE) exercise at the end of the 60% Construction Documents Phase to keep the project on budget. The single biggest savings ($500K+) was achieved by replacing the proposed concrete panel system on the upper levels of the Auditorium and Reed with brick. On Wednesday, the SBC reviewed several brick options, and chose a contrasting brick that will complement the accent brick being used on other parts of the building. The 3 photos below show: 1) the current building; 2) the previous concrete panel design; and 3) the new proposal. Click here for the entire slide deck, and here for the monthly project budget report.

Current Auditorium & Reed Gym
Concrete panel system
Current design proposal

The SBC will now meet once per month. The next meeting is on Wednesday, October 16th, 7pm, Hartwell multipurpose room.

A look forward…and a look back…

From Superintendent McFall: What to expect September 19 – October 10:

Modular Trailer/Temporary School Update

  • The modular classrooms (trailers) that are currently located on the Lincoln campus will begin to be set into place this week to form the temporary school in the configuration that will be used to operate the K-4 school for the 2020 – 2022 school years.
  • There will be 3 additional overnight moves to transport the remaining trailers from Hanscom Air Force Base to the Lincoln campus. These overnight moves will take place on September 24, 25, and 26.
  • As the trailers arrive on site, they will be set in place and anchored to their foundation. Additional work will be carried out to connect utilities and create a temporary parking lot. This initial phase of setting the trailers is expected to be completed by October 10. Additional work on the site and interior of the temporary building will continue through December.

A Brief History of the Project...

From time to time, questions come up about where we are in the process, how much has been decided, or what the decision process has been. The links below follow the journey of the Lincoln School project:

  • 1994 – 2017: Studies that led to the project.
  • March 2017: Town votes to authorize the School Committee to use $750K for the first phase of the current project and to appoint a School Building Committee. Start of Concept Phase.
  • Summer 2017 – June 2018: Concept Phase. The design team & SBC develop a range of project choices that achieve different levels of renovation at a range of costs.
  • June 9, 2018: Special Town Meeting. Residents are given the opportunity to choose between 5 project concepts. After 2 rounds of voting, concept “L3” (a $93.9M major renovation) gets 73% of the vote. L3 is a 75% renovation/25% new construction concept that retains the “L-shape” of the current school, reconfigures/provides new spaces to support the educational program, and determines that the school will be net zero.
  • June 2018 – December 2018: Schematic Design Phase. The L3 concept is developed further in preparation for a December Special Town Meeting to bond the project. The phase ends with cost estimates before the bond vote; SBC goes through a value engineering process to make decisions that keep the project on budget.
  • December 2018: December 1st Special Town Meeting and December 3rd Special Election to bond the project.
  • December 2018 – April 2019: Design Development Phase. Continued work on interior and exterior design and materials, major systems, etc. The phase ends with cost estimates; no value engineering needed.
  • April 2019 – September 2019: 60% Construction Documents Phase. Materials, plumbing and electrical plans, mechanical systems, site work, and phasing plans are refined; design/construction team works with Lincoln Planning Board, Conservation Commission, Historical Commission, and Building Department on required permits. Phase ends with cost estimates; SBC goes through a value engineering process to make decision that keep the project on budget.
  • NOW: September 2019 – December 2019: 90% Construction Documents Phase. Continued refinement of plans and drawings in preparation for sending the project out to bid. Final round of cost estimates will be performed before the bid documents are finalized.
  • SUMMER 2020: Phase 1 begins – renovation of the Middle School (Brooks). Grades K-4 move into the temporary school; grades 5-8 move into the elementary end of the school (Smith)

Next SBC Meeting: Wednesday, September 25th, 7pm, Hartwell multipurpose room.

  • Review refinements of interior design
  • Review exteriors of Brooks & Reed Gym
  • Review plan for salvaged items
  • Monthly budget update
  • Construction update

On Budget…

After a 3-meeting, 7.5-hour Value Engineering (VE) process, the project remains on budget!

As anyone who’s done a major renovation knows, a construction project is a nearly continuous stream of choices and decisions. Things begin with big decisions like size, scope, and scale, and end with small ones like: Which knobs to put on the cabinets? Each choice has a range of options & tradeoffs, almost always at different budget points (some of us may remember “Good,” “Better” and “Best” rankings in the Sears catalog).

To keep the school on budget, the SBC considered well over 100 items spanning every aspect of the project. For example: Should we have phenolic (composite resin) lockers, as was proposed in the design, or choose metal lockers, which are very durable and less expensive? The SBC made the choice to go with metal hallway lockers, which is a good alternative and saved $134,550. Making these kinds of choices allowed the committee to ensure that the project is entirely within budget. To see the slides that accompanied the discussion, click here.

The Modulars are Arriving!

Late-night arrival of the first modular units!
9/13/19

How is the project a learning opportunity? Check out this drawing by a Lincoln School 1st grade student who was very proud of his drawing because he “used real shapes.”

First-Hand Scientific Observation + Geometry + Drawing + Writing + Feeling Connected to Your Work = Authentic Learning! Thanks for sharing your drawing, Graeme!

Next SBC Meeting: Wednesday, September 25th, 7:00pm, Hartwell multipurpose room.

Making Choices…

Last Wednesday the SBC continued the Value Engineering (VE) process to ensure the project remains on budget. As reported last week, the cost estimates at the end of the 60% Construction Documents phase (60% CD) came in about $2.8M higher than the budget, so the SBC embarked on another round of VE. We’ll be honest, this is not the fun part of the job. As the Committee works through a series of cost-reduction line items, we are guided by the Project Principles that the SBC and the community established and articulated two years ago:

  • Focus on educational value
  • Make the project Net Zero
  • Respect the look and feel of the campus
  • Make choices that retain the long-term value of the project

After Wednesday’s meeting, VE is almost complete and the SBC expects to complete the process this week (Wednesday, 7pm, Hartwell multipurpose room).

What happens next?

  • Once VE is complete, the project officially moves into the 90% Construction Documents phase (90% CD). This phase is when the final details are fleshed out in preparation for putting the project out to bid.
  • We already have a Construction Manager (Consigli), but need to solicit bids for the areas of the project that are subcontracted (e.g. plumbing, HVAC, etc.)
  • The 90% CD phase will be completed by the end of December. One more round of cost estimates is performed before the bid documents are finalized.
  • UPDATE: The temporary classroom units will start arriving from the Hanscom campus on WEDNESDAY night (this is a change). 6-7 trailers per night will be delivered over the course of a number of nights until all 37 units are on the campus.

Just for fun…(click on the question to see the answer)

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