The hilltop site was rejected in 2016 partly because of the huge site costs. Sitework costs including Site Preparation, Site Improvements, Liquid and Gas utilities, and Electrical Site Improvements for the hilltop site now exceed $40M.
The 2016 prefeasibility report recommended building a school for 1600 students in existing open space next to the current school at a total cost of less than $200M
Sitework cost and the 8% cap on MSBA funding
The net cost of the new school building is approx $135.5M. The net sitework cost is approx $38.7 M, not including the $2.3M Athletic support building that is required because of the distance of the school from the playing fields. Therefore the total net cost for siting the new school on the hilltop is $38.7M + $2.3M = $41M. The site costs are at least 20% of the direct building cost. MSBA only reimburses site costs up to 8% of direct building costs. These excessive site costs are being borne directly by the towns, without the 76% refund from MSBA for eligible costs.
