WESTBOROUGH – The hard number has arrived for the roof replacement project at Hastings Elementary School.
At the School Committee meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 14, Westborough Public Schools Superintendent Amber Bock said the bid for the project came in at $3.758 million.
That number has since risen to $4,142,800. According to Bock, “We needed to carry 10-12% contingency costs that were not part of the bid.”
The request for a borrow is Article 19 in this spring’s Town Meeting warrant, and requires a two-thirds vote.
Should the article be approved, the loan will be used to replace the entire roof at Hastings. The completed roof would have a warranty of 40 years, and a life expectancy of up to 50 years with proper maintenance, according to the article.
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The need to replace Hastings’ roof became necessary in early January, when several parts of the roof leaked due to heavy rains. The leaks damaged several parts of the school, and classes were canceled for one day.
Bock recommended, and the School Committee approved, an authorization for an emergency repair. As part of the process, officials from the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance inspected the roof. The inspection led to three bids for the project.
According to Bock, files have been claimed with the insurance company, but the insurance would pay for the damage, not a new roof.
Timeline
1970 – Hastings Elementary School opens
Late 1990s – Repair project
2011 – Request for $250,000 made to repair leaky pipes and faulty duct work.
2016-2017 – School Committee request at Town Meeting to build six-eight classrooms at Hastings. At the 2017 Fall TM, $12.5 million was approved for a pre-K addition.
2019-2020 – Westborough Early Childhood Center opens at Hastings; funds allocated to upgrade the school’s 24-year-old heating and cooling system; TM approves $750,000 to install a sprinkler system at Hastings, but the bids came back at double the estimate.
2021-2022 – School system impacted by Covid-19 pandemic, cut budget by $1.2 million.
2022-2023 – Town Meeting warrant includes a request for $2.4 million to replace the 27-year-old roof at Hastings. Article mentions the deterioration of the roof, as well as issues with leaks. Article passes by two-thirds majority. The roof at Armstrong Elementary fails. Funds allocated for the Hastings project go to repair the Armstrong roof, portions of which date back to 1996.
2023-2024 – Town Meeting warrant includes a request for $504,000 toward architectural design and engineering toward replacing 80,000 square feet of the existing roof at Hastings. At the time, Bock said despite efforts to repair and patch, “It’s time to repair the roof.”
Another Hastings-related article requests $5 million for upgrades to comply with Americans With Disabilities Act and Massachusetts Architectural Access Board requirements. The project would include reconfiguring walls and replacing fixtures at the kindergarten restrooms; adding exterior ramps and landings at kindergarten and gym exterior doors; and adding/modifying grab bars, dispensers and accessories at exterior doors. This article was passed over because of a lack of bids.
2024-2025 – Warrant article for ADA/MAAB upgrades at Hastings returns. Request remains at $5 million.
Other requests include:
$60,000 – Architectural design and engineering for repairs to high school roof rim (Capital Improvement Plan article -free cash)
$192,000 – Architectural design and engineering to high school C wing roof restoration (Capital Improvement Plan article — free cash)
$504,000 – Design costs to replace 70,000 square feet of the high school roof, wings A and B (Capital Improvement Plan article — free cash)
$1.1 million – Architectural design and engineering to restore the 24-year-old roof at Mill Pond Elementary (Capital Improvement Plan article — borrow).
