By Christine M. Quirk — Christine@concordbridge.org
Students are starting their last months at Peabody and Sanborn: the new Ellen Garrison Building at the Concord Middle School is on target to open in February.
“The building envelope is pretty much done, with the exception of the entryway,” Project Manager Vincent Miller of Hill International said.
Photo by Ken McGagh for The Concord Bridge
The new building brings together all three middle school grades, which will be separated by floor. Currently, grade 6 is in the Sanborn building with grades 7 and 8 at Peabody.
At the new CMS, the bathrooms are tiled, the classrooms are enclosed, and the cabinets are on the walls in the science rooms. The curbing has gone in and the sidewalks were scheduled to be poured this week.
Photo by Ken McGagh for The Concord Bridge
Superintendent Laurie Hunter said each floor will have a cluster of core-subject classrooms facing a large common space.
“The kids will be able to do projects out there,” Hunter said. “They’ll be able to do collaborative grouping out there. It’s very flexible.… We could do a whole team activity together in the space. So there’s lots of options, which is exciting.”
Photo by Ken McGagh for The Concord Bridge
‘Great things’
The building is full of natural light that filters in from windows overlooking trees, which Concord Middle School Building Committee member Heather Bout said was an intentional choice.
“It’s just inspiring,” she said. “We’ve had all these conversations in the building committee [about] trying to keep a connection to nature, and now [we’re] walking in here and seeing it and feeling it.”
The cafeteria will have flexible seating, Bout said.
“We love the design of the cafeteria,” she said. “There are long tables. There are little booths. There are small tables, so some kids might want a cozy space with just a few friends. It’s such an interesting age, and it’s a great time to start giving them a lot of agency and choice.”
Photo by Ken McGagh for The Concord Bridge
Miller said permanent power to the site is scheduled to be activated on September 7, allowing workers to operate the HVAC system.
“We’re going to need the HVAC running on a temporary basis in the gym to manage the humidity when we put down the hardwood floors,” he said. “There’s so many things to tie into permanent power… so those are great things that are happening.”
Construction began in June 2023 after nearly a decade of planning. The current middle school buildings are nearly 60 years old; a facilities study showed renovation costs were almost as much as a new build.
With mere months left, the ribbon-cutting ceremony is in sight.
“It is on schedule, but it is a very, very tight line,” Miller said.
“So I don’t want to say, ‘Yeehaw, we’re good.’ … It’s going to be like an ant farm — everybody working on something to get to right where we need to be.”
Photo by Ken McGagh for The Concord Bridge
