Here's How To Take A Virtual Tour Of The New Waltham High School

WALTHAM, MA — Still images and renderings of the plans for the new high school have been circulating the city for months. But it's one thing to see photos or renderings and another thing to get a tour. Thanks to a computer rendering of the plans, residents are now able to take a virtual tour of the school set to be built at 554 Lexington St.

The tour starts with the long drive from Lexington Street to the school, past a parking lot and around the back of the school to a special drop off section for drivers. Tour-goers can get a sense of both the outside of the building and where busses and the garage will be, as well as the shared spaces inside.

"The virtual tour really gives you a sense of how the new school will feel both inside and out.," said Waltham Superintendent Brian Reagan. "Anyone who takes the tour will see a thoughtfully planned building designed to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing."

Reagan said although there is still significant design work to be done, the virtual tour is a culmination of years of work by the school building committee and the architectural firm the city hired.

"When completed, the new Waltham High School will be a point of pride for the City and a model for other high school buildings across the Commonwealth," he told Patch.

School Committee member John Frassica said the tour represents another step forward in the years-long process.

"This will give our students the same opportunities other students in other communities are experiencing with their new high schools," he said. "It will also give all of our Waltham residents an opportunity to utilize this great educational building for many other programs. It will truly be a building for Waltham."

Here's the tour:

For years, the superintendent's office has been beating the drum about a need for an upgrade to the high school in order to accommodate increased enrollment and upgrade from deteriorating building conditions.

The current high school building is 449,700 square feet and was built in 1968, with additions made in 1998 and 2002. The state of the high school falls below standards, and raises the prospect that the city could lose accreditation of its high school over the next few years, unless significant progress is made on the building.

After back and forth between the school district and the city council about a site, the MSBA, which helps pay for school building projects, imposed a timeline for the city if it wanted to get money from the state to help pay for any of it.

The City Council and the School Committee voted to go with the School Department's preferred location about a mile away on the Stigmatine property, in large part because of the size - it's 43 acres. At one point the owners, a religious order, put the property on the market, according to court documents. The city-owned Fernald property was a strong contender but fell out as an option after officials said they realized environmental issues were bigger than originally thought.

When it became clear that the religious order that owned the Stigmatine property was not interested in selling it to the city, a number of city council members voted against taking the property.

But, with the deadline looming last year, the city council changed course and voted to take the site by eminent domain. The issue polarized the city, but eventually the two sides came to an agreement and the city moved forward last year on the $381 million high school building project.

Still, not everyone in the city is happy about the project. Some neighbors have raised concern about the blasting of rock during construction and water drain off from the site. Earlier in September the district sent the final environmental report to the state.

Read more:

• 5 Things To Know About Back To School In Waltham
• Waltham High School Project Gets Neighborhood Liaison...
• Waltham School Officials Share High School Project ...
• Waltham High School Project To Break Ground This Month

Got a tip? Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a press release you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how to post a press release, a column, event or opinion piece.