John K. McCarthy, MSBA Executive Director of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (“MSBA”), announced today that the MSBA’s Designer Selection Panel (“DSP”) has recommended that a contract be awarded to Design Partnership of Cambridge, Inc. for the design of David Prouty High School in the Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District.
The DSP, which included 3 representatives from the Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District, studied each applicant’s qualifications, experience, and references and voted to rank the firms in the following order:
- Design Partnership of Cambridge, Inc.
- ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge
- Lamoureux Pagano & Associates, Inc.
The selection of Design Partnership of Cambridge is a significant step towards the district’s proposed project to make repairs to the building and increase square footage in instructional areas.
“It’s really great when we can keep existing buildings alive,” stated Executive Director McCarthy. “The proposed project not only extends the working life of the David Prouty School, it also creates an opportunity to re-tailor the school for the educational needs of the new century.”
The DSP selects designers, programmers, and other entities providing feasibility studies in connection with public school construction projects seeking funding from the MSBA and whose construction cost will potentially be $5 million or more. The DSP, which includes the participation of local officials associated with a project, plays a critical role in the selection and recommendation of the best available design firms for the modernization and construction of Massachusetts public school facilities so that precious state dollars are invested in better designed schools that are structurally safe and encourage student learning.
The MSBA works with local communities to identify school facility needs, develop fiscally responsible and educationally appropriate solutions, and create safe, sound, and sustainable learning environments. Since its creation, the timely payments made by the MSBA to cities, towns, and regional school districts for school construction projects have saved municipalities over $2.9 billion in avoided local interest costs and have provided much needed cash flow to communities.
