With the school year now complete, the old Pentucket Regional Middle/High School has been turned over to the construction management company for environmental abatement, then demolition.
A new building replaces the Pentucket Regional Middle and High Schools. The School District Building Committee said the 66-year-old middle school and 55-year-old high school suffered from cracks in its foundation, corroded plumbing and a maxed out electrical system. Pentucket Regional School Superintendent Justin Bartholomew, a recent guest on WHAV’s morning program, said a lot of people have been nostalgic, asking for a brick, or a locker. Most of the building, however, is going to be recycled.
“So, it’s not everything goes into one container and goes in a landfill. They take all of it, or 90-95% of it. They take it and they recycle it. So, the bricks go off to a different place to get reused or to get smashed up to be used as, whatever it is they use it as, but it’s really innovative. It’s part of the bid process for sure, but we’re also going for a LEED Gold. We’ll be LEED Silver but we’re going for LEED Gold which means we have to meet certain requirements. We try to renew and reuse as much as possible that it’s, one, good for the environment and definitively good for our bottom-line number.”
To obtain LEED—which means Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design— Gold status, the new Pentucket Regional Middle/High School will have a state-of-the-art HVAC system and solar roof panels, which will reduce the building’s energy footprint and lower carbon emissions. It’s estimated items will save $2-million dollars in energy costs over the next 20 years.
The $146.2-million project was designed by Dore & Whittier, of Newburyport, with Vertex, of Weymouth, serving as the project manager and W.T. Rich, of Newton, as the Construction Manager.
Bartholomew said athletic fields and parking will replace the old buildings.
Besides WHAV.net, WHAV’s “Merrimack Valley Newsmakers” podcasts are available via Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts, TuneIn and Alexa.