Wilmington Resident Questions Building New School

This letter to the editor is from a Wilmington resident

In March 2025 the Massachusetts Department of Public Health conducted an assessment of the Woburn St School. It showed multiple issues regarding the building. I would first like to state that the problems listed were in March have been addressed. With that said the lack of overall regular maintenance and upkeep of the Woburn St School is disappointing. The fact that the town has failed to provide basic maintenance to our public buildings is criminal. Every problem listed by the MDPH does not give me great confidence that a new building will be maintained any better than our current buildings. There was a post about how the Middle School has windows that do not open, no central air, the air conditioning that is it does have in the auditorium is broken, etc. This building was erected in 2000! My point is the building is relatively new and its maintenance is in question. When I hear a “new building” or a “new school” is the answer I want to know what makes one think that a new building will be maintained when we have our current buildings are not being maintained. Additionally, Boston Latin is a public school built in 1922, Fordson High School (Michigan) 1922, East High School (Colorado) 1925, Brooklyn Technical HS (New York) 1922, Irving School (St. Louis, MO) 1871, Concord-Carlisle HS 1945, Lincoln-Sudbury HS 1954, Hartford Public HS 1963, Cambridge Rindge and Latin 1977, Massachusetts State House 1798, Massachusetts Old State House 1713. This list is only an extremely small snapshot of old public buildings/schools still in use today. “New” doesn’t always mean better. If I follow the logic of what is being inferred then we should demo a building if it has a leaking roof, chipped paint, rotting windows, etc. Would you demo your house when these things happen? Or would you repair/replace the issue? Should all “old buildings” be destroyed? Every building requires routine maintenance including roof, windows, updated electric, heating and cooling, masonry, etc. I am curious as to why our public schools have not been maintained. If our current buildings are any indication of what is to come to any new buildings. I suspect the town will require “new” buildings every 50 years or so. Continuous maintenance is required for all buildings and if done so in a timely manner it is less costly than erecting a new building. That is a poor reason to build a new school. I am not deluded to think that a school built in the 1950’s is considered a historic building today. Though all historic buildings were once considered new. We should take pride in what we own, in our town, in our schools. Part of that is preserving what we have. We have amazing teachers and educational staff. Both our children and everyone working within the school system deserve a space that is clean and cared for. That, transcends new vs old.

Wilmington Resident