Бывшие выпускники посетили тур по завершающей стадии масштабной реконструкции школы Лоуэлл

LOWELL — Several former graduates of Lowell High School took a walk down memory lane while also getting a glimpse of the future during a tour of the Lowell High School project on Wednesday morning. School Committee member Fred Bahou organized the Suffolk Construction-led progress tour of the Phase 4 renovation that encompasses the back half of the 1922 building and the 1892 Coburn Hall. Bahou, who is also a member of the School Building Committee, which provides oversight of the $418 million renovation and rebuild, called the project “absolutely stunning.” “People should really grab onto the end result of this project,” Bahou said. “How it’s going to take the city to the next level. I’m thrilled.” The project was designed by the architectural firm of Perkins Eastman, is being built by Suffolk Construction, and overseen by Skanska, the owner’s project manager who represents the city’s interests. The tour group consisted of Bahou (Class of 1981), Bill Nickles (Class of 1969), Bob Hunt (Class 1972), Kevin Durkin (Class of 1982), Tim Fallon (Class of 1974), Erin Gendron, Jose Cervantes and Francisco Maldonado. Skanska Project Director Kevin Kane, Suffolk Supervisor Pat DeBenedetto, LHS Head of School Mike Fiato, LHS Discipline and Operations Specialist Pat Smulligan and LHS custodian Derek Quintal accompanied the tour. The group crossed over the South Bridge from the main campus and was met by a cacophony of hammers and power saws at work in the under-construction media center/library of the Coburn Hall. The vast 25-foot-high space was lined with towers of metal scaffolding. Twenty-foot-high flanking windows on the north and south sides will flood the area with natural light. “Our librarian is so excited to move in here next summer,” Fiato said, emphasizing the word “so.” “Right now, she’s been in a temporary space.” The LHS project is the largest capital investment in the city’s history. The four-phased high school project broke ground in 2020 with the demolition of the old dentists’ office at Arcand Drive. That site became the Phase 1 construction of the new Riddick Athletic Center, which opened in 2022. Phases 1 and 2 consisted of new construction and are complete, including the Athletic Center, the five-story Freshman Academy, and the three-story addition that connects the academy, the gym and the new school entrance off the Father Morissette Boulevard entrance. Phase 3 was the more complicated renovation projects to the 1980s section and the north end of the 1922 building. School is closed to students for summer break, and hundreds of people were laboring onsite. “There are around 110 contractors, 10 Suffolk and five Skanska employees on site every day,” Kane said. The tour continued past light wells in the 1922 building that will bring natural light into the hallways, and ended in the basement. In February 2025, Suffolk Construction reported settling of the soil underneath the slab in the basement of the 1922 building. Remediating the slab required removing the concrete, digging down two feet and removing the soil, replacing that space with structural fill before replacing the slab throughout the 32,000-square-foot space. The basement flooring in the 1892 building was also removed prior to pouring a new slab. The enormous space, lined with dozens of supporting columns, features two 6-by-20-foot areas for skylights that will flood the area with natural light. The tour ended in the newly opened Cyrus Irish Auditorium filled with almost 2,000 plush red seats under coffered ceilings and recessed lighting. Durkin said the tour brought back memories. “There were certain spots I’d be walking down, and I’d get flashbacks,” he said. The Phase 4 turnover is expected to take place next summer before the start of the 2027-2028 school year. Smulligan, who has worked at the high school for 25 years, said the rebuild and renovation was long overdue. “Honestly, we needed it,” he said. “It’s unbelievable. It’s great for the kids, it’s great for the staff and the city.”