Wilmington Plans Special Town Meeting For Wildwood School Project

WILMINGTON, MA — Wilmington officials plan to call a special town meeting in March to seek funding for a feasibility study to replace the Wildwood Early Childhood Center, ahead of a state grant eligibility deadline.

The town was invited into the Massachusetts School Building Authority grant program, which would cover part of the design and construction costs of a new building, the town said. But for the town to stay eligible, the funds for a feasibility study must be appropriated by March 28.

The Board of Selectmen is expected to schedule a meeting March 8 at 7 p.m. They will likely vote to hold the town meeting at their next board meeting, Jan. 10.

The Wildwood School is the town's oldest school, built 66 years ago, Superintendent Glenn Brand noted in a message to the community.

"While it has served the community well for many years, it is worn, tired and no longer provides the type of educational space appropriate for the students and staff it serves," Brand wrote. "The Town's invitation into the MSBA program provides an opportunity for Wilmington to explore viable options to renovate or replace the Wildwood."

Brand introduced the school district's webpage for information on the building project. There will also be open house tours of the facility, with the first one scheduled for Jan. 11 at 6 p.m.

The town is considering three replacement projects currently: the Wildwood Early Childhood Center, the Buzzell Senior Center and the Town Hall and Roman House. The town provided brief summaries of the status of the three projects:

"Wildwood Early Childhood Center

The Town has the opportunity to have a portion of the design and construction costs of a new school or modification costs to existing schools paid for by the state. The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is the sole state grant issuing authority for funding rehabilitation of existing schools or new school construction. Wilmington has been invited into the grant program and is currently in the very first phase of consideration for grant funding; this is referred to as the “Eligibility Period.” For the Town to advance to the next phase of the MSBA program the Town must appropriate funds to conduct a feasibility study to examine options for replacing the Wildwood School. Since the Town’s MSBA “Eligibility Period” will expire on March 28, 2022, the Town must appropriate those funds before that date which is why the Board of Selectmen are expected to call a special town meeting for March 8, 2022 to begin at 7:00 p.m. in the high school auditorium. If funding is approved, an Owners Project Manager (OPM) who serves as the Town’s representative and an architect would be hired to examine options including replacement of the Wildwood School building with another building to accommodate pre-kindergarten and kindergarten or consolidating grades such as establishing a pre-kindergarten to grade 3 school or a pre-kindergarten to grade 5 school. The expectation is that replacement of the Wildwood School will take 5 to 7 years working with the MSBA.

For more information on the Wildwood School project, please visit: https://www.wpsk12.com/our_district/facilities/school_building_projects.

New Senior Center Project and New Town Hall and School Administration Building Project

Work is also ongoing to determine the best site to locate a new senior center and a combined town hall and school administration building. These are two separate projects which both received approval at the 2020 annual Town Meeting for funding to complete feasibility studies and schematic designs. Once the Board of Selectmen endorse a site for each of these two buildings, the architect will conduct an extensive evaluation of the site with respect to the presence of ledge, groundwater table, wetlands and other factors that would influence the location of the building on the site. Additionally, the architect will continue developing the design of each building with respect to interior rooms, HVAC, plumbing, life safety system etc. and preparing cost estimates for construction. At present the earliest these two projects would be ready for appropriation of funding for final design and construction would be a special town meeting in the Fall of 2022.

Plans call for the use of free cash and capital stabilization funds to reduce the amount of borrowing required to cover the cost of construction for each project. The Senior Center Building Committee and the Town/School Administration Building Committee are expected to meet regularly over the next several months with each committee meeting on alternating Wednesdays at the Town Hall beginning at 6:00 p.m. The next meeting of the Town/School Administration Building Committee is scheduled for January 5, 2022.

For more information on each project including upcoming meetings, newsletters with updates on each project, links to our Facilities Master Plan and more, please visit the following sites:

Senior Center Building Committee - https://www.wilmingtonma.gov/senior-center-building-committee

Town Hall/School Administration Building Committee - https://www.wilmingtonma.gov/town-hall-school-admin-building-committee"

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.