Construction Begins on Melrose High School Science Labs

With the asbestos abatement work completed, construction of the Melrose High School science labs began this week, according to City Planner Denise Gaffey.

The science labs construction project began Monday at the high school, according to Gaffey. However, before the construction could get underway, Norwood-based contractor Southern Middlesex Industries needed to finish the abatement.

"During (February) vacation all the asbestos abatement work was occurring and that was completed during school vacation as scheduled," Gaffey said, adding that school resumed operations Feb. 25.

The 18,000-square-foot renovation project is expected to be completed by August 2013 for the start of the 2013-2014 school year, according to officials.

A high school site committee met after the abatement work was finished to vote to award the construction contract for the next phase of the project, according to Gaffey. Quincy-based G&R Construction, the low bidder, was awarded the contract, she said.

"(G&R Construction) have spent a little time getting ready to start the job, mobilizing if you will, and they started their work as of (Monday)," Gaffey said. "We did some selective demolition with the asbestos abatement contractor crew and anything demolished was done so in a confined way because of the asbestos, and now they are doing just general demolition such as demolishing walls, utilities and things of that nature to get ready for the new construction."

The demolition work is expected to run between a week and two weeks in duration, according to Gaffey. 

"The next phase would be to do the utility work, laying the new gas and plumbing lines and setting up the electrical service and things like that," Gaffey said. "This work will be occurring while school is in session so we are obviously making accommodations for noise, consruction debris and dust and things of that nature.

"The area the contractors are in is completely sealed off from the rest of the school and they do not have free access to the school. They access the science wing from outside from Melrose Street."

Gaffey said the school has mostly made accommodations for the swing space in the Resource Center, as well as above the center, because there is currently some excess capacity in those locations. "They have also set up some temporary partition walls in some of the open-space areas, and they have some actual classrooms that they have been able to convert to swing space to science lab spaces," she said.

In October 2012, the Massachusetts School Building Authority awarded Melrose $3.1 million in grants toward the science lab project, according to a report on the Boston Globe website. The science lab project is estimated to cost $5.3 million, according to Gaffey.

Previous Coverage:

• MHS Science Labs Project is Underway
• MSBA Approves $3.1M in Grants to Build MHS Science Labs
• Science Labs State Funding Awarded to MHS
• City Applying For State Funds For MHS Science Labs
• MHS Science Labs Cost Almost Doubles From Original Estimate