$3.3M Bond for Middle School Project Sought

City Councilors will hold a work session on Monday night to discuss whether the city should appropriate an additional $3.3 million for the Portsmouth Middle School construction project.

The request for the additional funding was made by the Joint Middle School Building Committee after the construction firm working on the $37.5 million project recently told its members the project will require more funding to complete.

According to the council's agenda on the city's website, City Councilor Chris Dwyer is also scheduled to request that the council bring the $3.3 million funding request for a first reading when the council meets on April 1.

The Portsmouth Middle School addition project broke ground in June 2011 and the addition was completed in 2012. Construction work continues on the original Portsmouth Middle School on Parrott Avenue and it is this portion of the project that requires additional funding.

The work session is scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. followed by the council's regularly scheduled meeting at 7 p.m.