The First Look Inside The New Tewksbury High
Complex is about 85 percent complete and on target to open in August.
Photos
Beaming with the pride of a new father, Project Manager Peter Collins led local officials and media members on a tour of the new Tewksbury High School, Thursday afternoon.
Collins, a senior associate with Heery International, reiterated that the $67.7 million project will be completed on schedule and will be ready to open in August.
"It's about 85 percent complete, with everything here, including materials," said Collins.
Participating on the tour, all with the press, were members of the High School Building Committee, the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen.
The tour included a look at some of the classrooms, gymnasium, library, cafeteria, and auditorium.
The gymnasium will seat 1,225 fans and features one main basketball court and three intermediate courts that can be separated for tournament or recreational league use. There is a chance the gym could be used for future TMHS graduations.
The auditorium/theater features seating for 690 and the stage has a spacious backstage area for work on theatrical productions. School Committee member Jayne Miller said the design for the auditorium was a combination of "the best of Hudson (High) and the best of Wellesley (High)." She said the same designed was responsible for both.
The design for the new Tewksbury High is based largely on the design of Hudson high.
Some of the more unique characteristics of the complex include "airport style" restrooms for students, shared "prep" areas behind science and art classrooms, a TV studio and two oversized lecture halls that can accommodate three or four classes meeting together.
The entire complex features copious amounts of glass for maximum natural lighting. This ties in with numerous "green" features that add to the energy efficiency of the school and guarantee an additional two percent reimbursement from the state.
Mary
7:51 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
Looks beautiful. Now time spruce up the Elementary Schools!
RunningGreen
8:17 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
Excellent. It looks like a nice facility. Design of the cafeteria is really good. Just have to hope that the administration uses it to its full potential.
Bob Ferrari
8:52 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
Nice photos... let's hope that this great new school is actually maintained. History will dictate otherwise.
Patrick Rahilly
8:58 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
Looks great, I like the use of natural light. Hopefully they can keep 1/3 to half the lights out at a time and save some energy. Nothing is worse than sitting under flourescent lights for 6 to 8 hours at a time.
D.James
9:40 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
Looks amazing wish it was this nice when I was there
Jon Pratt
9:57 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
Well if the building paid a factor in education quality we would be the tops.
Looks great!
Tewksbury2001
10:51 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
A building does play a factor.
SAM
3:36 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
I agree, curriculum and the teachers are not up to par for the new technology in this building.
mother
11:43 pm on Saturday, April 7, 2012
I thinks its great they built a new school and supposedly want to give each student an ipad , but the teachers are still the same so how exactly do the students benefit ?????
Amanda Carroll
11:03 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
I love it!
Kim
11:15 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
Love the natural light too! Such an asset for the town and the kids!
SD From T-Bury
11:23 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
Looks great! Very excited to take a tour when it's done.
Kathleen Brothers
12:35 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
It looks wonderful ! One question, does anyone know if it has AC?
RunningGreen
1:26 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
Kathleen, I believe that there will only be AC in select rooms. The library and computer labs will probably have it, for example, so that there are no heating issues with the computers. Would probably cost too much to do AC for the whole school, but I would imagine there are locations inside the school with air conditioning.
SAM
3:28 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
about 67% of the school will have AC
SAM
10:27 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
or was it 77%?
Bob
12:43 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
That looks so great!
Charmed
2:12 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
Loving it!
SAM
3:39 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
Bill, I'm curious to hear if you had any negative thoughts about the building...
SAM
6:33 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
*or concerns
Bill Gilman
9:18 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
Hi Sam .... I asked about the main entrance ... once you get through the doors, the "neck" seemed more narrow than at the old school. (I always worry about crowds) but they assured me its actually wider so it may have been an optical illusion.
I also asked about the team lockerrooms being on the second floor ... seemed impractical for the football team, especially since the new field will not have a field house. But apparently the team will dress at Doucette and then come over to the new field.
The only other curiosity I had was about the "Airport" bathrooms. Imagine one big opening, and then the boys branch off one way and the girls the other. But ther is no door for either. It's just open. We were told that the educators on the committee preferred this style to be able to better monitor the bathrooms and prevent smoking, etc ....
Overall ... it looks fabulous. I believe it will be something the town will be very proud of.
Tewksbury2001
4:43 am on Saturday, April 7, 2012
How many shows do the "actors" perform in a year? These seems like minor items.
bk
9:07 am on Saturday, April 7, 2012
Lets add some top quality education in this building.
Nancy s
3:43 am on Saturday, June 2, 2012
P. R. Issue you should immediately address - there's rumors going around that the air conditioning was only installed/to be used in classrooms teachers with asthma will be assigned. While I find that hard to believe, it's being spread around and is upsetting parents and grandparents. Please address/correct this...