New Wakefield High School Still Years Away

WAKEFIELD, MA — Even though it's been discussed for years, the new Wakefield Memorial High School project is still in its relative infancy.

Permanent Building Committee Chair Joseph Bertrand at Monday night's Town Council laid out the timeline for the pre-building phase, and even a vote on a building design wouldn't come up until March 2023 at the earliest and as late as August 2023.

But while it's a long road ahead, progress is being made. The Permanent Building Committee has met six times in the last six weeks and has selected an owner's project manager, Leftfield, with town familiarity. The company oversaw the Walton Elementary School renovation and is currently working on the Public Safety Building project.

"We know them, they know us, and we were happy to select them," Bertrand said.

The owner's project manager will oversee the project, including the hiring of an architect. Once that happens — which is expected to be by the end of this August — the feasibility study begins. Bertrand estimated that will take 18-24 months.

"This is not happening in a year," Bertrand said. "This is going to take a long time."

Once the study is complete, public engagement will begin.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Wakefield Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.