Concord Middle School Building Tours Held Tuesday, Saturday

CONCORD, NH — The Concord School District is hosting two community meetings for parents and residents to take tours of the Rundlett Middle School and learn why officials would like a new middle school building.

The meetings, held on Tuesday evening and Saturday morning, will consist of a 45-minute presentation by architects and engineers and then a tour of the building by teachers. The meetings will end with a question-and-answer period.

Kathleen Murphy, the superintendent of SAU 8, said the district was pleased to host the meetings.

"I encourage the community to attend one of the sessions to learn about the needs of the educational setting at Rundlett," she said. "This will be the first of many informational sessions for the community."

During the past two months, sessions have been held with students and personnel about what they would like to see in a new building.

Most of the current school structure was built in 1957. A science wing was added about a decade later, and a new gymnasium, performing arts auditorium, and classroom were added on in 1990. The building was also renovated in 1990.

Back in 2019, the school board voted against renovating the current structure despite nearly a third of it being constructed, and the entire building renovated, only three decades ago.

It is unknown exactly how much constructing a new building will cost.

Estimates have varied between $50 million and $85 million during the past few years. If fifth-graders are included in the new building, it will free up space at the elementary school level. The district would also like to partner with the Concord YMCA for partial usage of a new building.

The meetings will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8, and 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 12, at Rundlett Middle School.

The middle school project portal page, which includes visioning and feasibility studies, can be found here.

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