Towering Costs Mute Enthusiasm For Beebe School Proposal

MELROSE, MA — More questions than answers emerged after projected costs for proposals to bring the Beebe School back online as a neighborhood K-5 school far exceeded what the district is prepared for.

The School Committee took the issue up last Tuesday night after the pandemic disrupted the first significant conversations on the use of the building in years.

Transforming the Beebe into a sixth elementary school is the district's preferred choice. Another option that was considered was making it an early learning center for preschool and kindergarten students, something it was determined the building doesn't have the capacity for.

But the K-5 option comes at a cost: Anywhere from $2 million to $14.5 million, depending how much work is done.

Those estimates were presented by Charlie Hay from Tappé Architects, the firm who conducted a $50,000 feasibility study on the building.

"It's actually I think a very exciting building in a lot of ways and actually has a lot of upside potential," Hay said. "But unfortunately upside potential is not free, it's costly."

Indeed, the estimates threw cold water on an otherwise encouraging presentation about what the Beebe could become, not the least of which is a release valve alleviating some of the districtwide space crunch.

"We are now at a place where we see our elementary schools in particular at this time really strained when it comes to space," Superintendent Julie Kukenberger said. "And it's leading to some other challenges relative to our ability to deliver the high quality public education that the students and families of Melrose have come to expect and deserve."

Discussions around how best to utilize the Beebe School have been going on and off for several years. The process was coming to the forefront before the pandemic struck, derailing Beebe considerations as unprecedented challenges overwhelmed the district.

Talks picked back up this spring when a working group of city and school officials started meeting.

The district had been leasing the Beebe to the SEEM Collaborative, which serves a number of local communities' special education students. The SEEM's lease expired in June of this year, and it left in the middle of October.

The leading Beebe proposal is to welcome students in a phased approach, starting with three pre-K and and two kindergarten classes the first year, adding students each year as the original classes eventually graduate the school. By the sixth year online, the school would house two strands of students from pre-K through fifth grade.

Bringing students in over time would allow the Beebe to house a temporary public library for its first two years, the presentation noted. (The Melrose Public Library will soon undergo a major renovation.)

Plans for the school include a large all-purpose room, an art and music room and a library.

The problem is the Beebe isn't suitable to house students, and it would cost a lot to make it so.

• For $2 million, the district could do the bare minimum work to a small section, leveraging an option that avoids having to bring the entire 64-year-old building up to code. But Hay said the workaround is not intended for schools.
• For $6 million, the district could bring the building up to code, making it fully accessible but avoiding much of the deferred maintenance.
• For $9.6 million, the district could have a full renovation and building upgrade, including replacing ancient systems and full abatement for materials containing asbestos.

But none of those estimates include replacing the leaky roof or broken windows. That would be an extra $4.6 million for the code-only option and $4.9 million for the full renovation. (The $2 million option would be too limited in scope to address the roof or windows.)

Where any of the money will come from was of chief concern Tuesday night.

"I'm not looking for nickels and dimes here, but clearly we're looking at some very very big numbers," School Committee member Ed O'Connell said, asking about funding.

Mayor Paul Brodeur had little comfort to offer, saying the project wouldn't be eligible for some of the cash influxes from the federal government like ARPA and the recently passed infrastructure law.

"It's a little bit hard to navigate right now, quite frankly," he said.

The project also may not be particularly attractive to the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which foots huge portions of the bill for some communities working often on complete renovations or new buildings.

The good news: The building is in a good place structurally.

"The bottom line is ... the bones are there to make it a really excellent K-5 elementary school," Hay said.

The right investment could see a completely transformed site, with a drop-off and pick-up loop and options for outdoor eating, recreation and classrooms.

There was some optimism that the city and district will find a way to make this work, with Tuesday's discussion only the beginning of what is sure to be a long conversation.

"It's just hard to imagine figuring out the money piece, it's going to be very complicated," School Committee member Jen Razi-Thomas said.

But, she added: "There is a lot of money out there right now in the state budget, in our city budget. So with enough determination and persistence, anything is possible.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi and Instagram at Melrose Happening. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook