Photo: Abby Fox
Renovation work of Cole Jr. High and the high school began June 25. Here,the site outside Cole is cleared for building. The large old tree outside of the school came down, but project manager Jon Winikur of Strategic BuildingSolutions said a couple of pieces of it were saved for posterity.

By Abby Fox

The school building committee voted Tuesday for a metal roof, as opposed to a rubber roof, for the new Cole Middle School, but didn’t come to a decision between red brick or a more tan-colored brick.

A metal roof would be $400,000 more, but would last a long time and open up more color choices to complement it, Chair Jay Gowell said, and most of the committee voted with him, except for a couple dissenting pro-rubber votes: Wil Yoder and Alexis Meyer, Cole’s principal.
Sue Cienki, former school committee chair, current school committee chair Jean Ann Guliano and committee member Susan Records were some of the red brick proponents, saying that red brick was what residents have been expecting to see for the new school, and would match the neighborhood more, while members such as Mary Ellen Winters and Deidre Gifford said they were open to the tan-colored brick and thought the community would be open to a brick as long as it looks good, regardless of its coloring.
Architect Ed Frenette advised them that the roofs on Cole were “very prominent,” so much so that whatever selections they decided for roof or façade wouldn’t be incidental.
The committee also voted on a $42,536.68 furniture bid package from Tavares Design Associates, and a $100,443.73 equipment bid that Frenette’s firm, SMMA, proposed. Cienki was the lone dissenter on the furniture bid, saying she couldn’t vote for 56 waste baskets and just 24 desks. No one else shared her concern.
The rest of the meeting covered everything from the exterior of the new high school to the parking lot of the new Cole Middle School, to the proposed “high-performance lighting,” to the color palettes for the new high school entrance and the middle school – where maroon is a major accent color. All topics seemed to go over well.
In the past, former Deputy Police Chief Bill Higgins and parents had many concerns about the future picking up and dropping off children process at the new Cole, but SMMA’s drawing of separate bus and parent drop-offs, and the two lanes provided, seemed to satisfy. SMMA said the seat walls and the granite incorporated into the new high school entranceway would deter skateboarders.
Ken Romeo of Strategic Building Solutions, the project manager, told the committee that asbestos was found in several different layers in the gym floor, more than anticipated, so that the cost to remove of the hazardous waste and dispose of it will be more than the bid cost budgeted for, and said he would have that dollar amount soon.
Out of the $5,387,600 construction budget, Winikur said, $2,227,700 has been spent, with $3,159,900 left to spend, and it’s estimated at this point that there’s a surplus of $520,300. Winikur said that the poor economy has, on a positive note, provided the “best bidding climate” of our lifetimes, and was one of the encouraging voices in support of a metal roof over a less expensive rubber one, because he said he was certain money would be saved through other bids.