The new Avery School was given a push forward Wednesday, as the Massachusetts School Building Authority board voted to commit up to $11.09 million to the project, whose total cost is estimated at $23.37 million.
“It’s a big milestone for us, and it means the state will be paying for approximately 48 percent of the project,” said Andy Lawlor, the chairman of the School Building Rehabilitation Committee. “We still have the potential to gain two more percentage points for reimbursement.”
The board voted to approve the project, which would place a state-of-the-art, three-story, 61,000-square-foot school on 5 or 6 acres off Pottery Lane in East Dedham. The new Avery would accommodate at least 310 students – or 99 more than the school had last year. The larger school would allow the Dedham public schools to include five special education classrooms at the Avery, and provide flexibility to shrink from five to four elementary schools in the future, if that proves necessary.
Lawlor said the building authority has essentially offered a grant of up to $11.09 million and that Dedham needs to formally accept it by entering into a project funding agreement under the specified terms. “We’ll be happy to accept,” he said.
The current 88-year-old Avery School, on High Street, is “a very outdated, needy, needy facility,” said Superintendent of Schools June Doe.
“We’re excited to hopefully be able to bring another building project for Dedham,” she said. “It’s one step closer to getting them a new school, which they definitely need.”
Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
