Seventh-and-eighth grade academy looking to use old EHS building
By Cary Shuman
The issue of using the old Everett High School building for a seventh-and-eighth grade academy will move forward with a neighborhood meeting on the issue set to take place in January.
City Council President Robert Van Campen had requested an update from Mayor Carlo DeMaria on the ongoing efforts “to reclaim the former Everett High School for expanded school purposes, including the relocation of certain other non-educational uses within the facility.”
DeMaria spoke at the meeting and provided additional information about the project and the possibility that the Eliot Family Resource Center and the Broadway Boxing Club could continue to operate within the facility using separate entrances.
Frank Tedesco, president of Mount Vernon Group Architects, also addressed the Council, indicating that the project’s square footage will be expanded at the building, and the estimated cost for the project would likely rise from $72 million to $79 million. He said the completed project would be like having “a brand-new school” at the site. Mount Vernon has accomplished a similar “brand new look” with its highly acclaimed renovation project of Beverly High School.
After the meeting, Van Campen expounded on his belief that a neighborhood meeting is necessary at this point in the discussions.
“I’m trying to avoid unnecessary negative impacts, so I’m still analyzing and studying this project just to make sure that ultimately this is going to work for the area,” said Van Campen.
Van Campen said that Eliot Family Resource Center provides “critical services to the community, but I am still questioning whether those impacts – adding a seventh-and-eighth-grade project – would be too great in this congested area.”
Van Campen asserted that the neighborhood “is fully supportive of reclaiming the building [the old Everett High School] for school purposes. That’s something I’m fully supportive of but the open question is whether these non-educational uses (Eliot Center, Broadway Boxing Club) can coexist for a greater use of the building for school purposes, and that’s still the question that has to be answered.” Mayor DeMaria agreed with Van Campen’s request to hold community meetings on the project and an additional request by Councilor-at-Large John Hanlon that residents should be able to participate in the meeting remotely from their homes.