Monument Mountain renovation plans move forward

GREAT BARRINGTON – The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has given the the go-ahead to start the schematic design phase of the proposed renovations to Monument Mountain Regional High School.

Tonight (Nov. 20), there will be a public meeting about the vocational and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programming tied to the proposed renovations at 6:30 p.m. at the high school, and on Dec. 4 at 6 p.m. (also at MMRHS), the building committee will also hold a meeting to discuss the schematic design phase.

According to Berkshire Hills Regional School District Business Administrator Sharon Harrison, a total of $750,000 was budgeted for the first two steps of the renovation process, $300,000 for feasibility and $450,000 for the schematic design.

There was $44,710 left over from the first stage, and the BHRSD School Committee approved the transfer of that money to the schematic design funding.

“We’re going to have to be pretty diligent to stay within our budget,” said School Building Committee Chair Richard Coons, adding the committee’s current plans leave wiggle room of only $5,000.

There will be a further presentation on the school’s renovation plan to the school committee in January, and Mr. Coons hopes to have a final figure to the district and towns (Great Barrington, Stockbridge and West Stockbridge) by March. The towns would have to approve the cost through Town Meeting votes.

Right now, the cost is estimated at $40.1 million for construction, with the total project cost at $52.8 million. The MSBA will reimburse approximately 47 percent of the cost incurred by the district, according to Mr. Coons.

School committee reorganization

The Nov. 15 meeting was the first since the Nov. 6 election, which added Richard M. Dohoney (Great Barrington) to the school committee. Both Frederick “Fred” Clark (Stockbridge) and Christine M. Shelton (Great Barrington) won re-election.

As part of the reorganization process, Stephen C. Bannon was voted in to continue his role as chair of the committee, while Deborah Kain was named vice chair and Ms. Shelton secretary. All three positions were uncontested.

“It’s always an honor to do this,” said Mr. Bannon, who is also a selectman in Great Barrington.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on November 20, 2012. Filed under Education News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry