New Peebles School Moves to Schematic Design Phase in Bourne

COURTESY OF GOOGLE STREET VIEW

COURTESY OF GOOGLE STREET VIEW

BOURNE – The Massachusetts School Building Authority has approved the conceptual design for a new school to replace the James F. Peebles Elementary School in Bourne.

The town will now move on to the schematic design for the facility which will house about 460 students from 3rd grade through 5th grade.

Jim Potter, the chairman of the school building committee, expects this phase to take about four weeks.

The community will help shape the schematic design of the new facility and a public forum will be held Thursday at the Bournedale Elementary School from 6 to 8 p.m.

The building would require approval at town meeting and at town election.

“If the community was to go forward with the school, the existing building would still be in use while the new building is built, essentially, in front of it,” Potter said.

The estimated cost of the new school would be around $40 million.

“That’s a pretty solid number,” Potter said. “It really won’t change. It could come down if there’s other cost savings to be found somewhere, but that’s a pretty solid number and it definitely won’t be more.”

Potter said the MSBA would reimburse the town about 46 percent of the total cost of the school.

The MSBA will vote on the completed design document in November.

“They are right up to date and on board with everything that we are doing. So there are no surprises and they’re very comfortable with the design and the direction of what we are trying to do,” Potter said.

If the new school is approved by the town and the MSBA, the new building would affect the entire district.

The Bournedale school would be pre-K through 2nd grade. Peebles would be 3rd grade through 5th grade. The middle school would become 6th grade through 8th grade.

“It’s not just an elementary school project. It’s a district-wide project,” Potter said. “It allows Bourne to offer full day kindergarten, which they do not offer now.”

Potter said the earliest a new school could open would be 2019.

By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

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