The Renovation Report: Concept Sketches Background (4-11-09)

The Runkle School Building Committee (RSBC) met on Tuesday, April 7th.  During the meeting, Design Partnership of Cambridge (DPC) presented four initial concepts—very rough sketches—designed to illustrate how the major needs of the building might be handled on the site.  There was no cost analysis associated with the sketches at this meeting, though DPC did give some general guidance on the relative complexity of each concept.  The options presented were based on a “Proposed Space Summary” developed by DPC which included program needs identified by the School Department to date.  (As soon as feasible, we will post this document on the Renovation Report.)

There will be a public meeting at which these designs will be presented on Thursday, April 16^th at 8:00 am in the Runkle cafeteria.  This meeting will also include a question & answer/comment period.  The cost information is not expected to be available for the April 16^th meeting.  The sketches of the four options are posted here:

• Option A
• Option B
• Option C
• Option D

DPC’s cost analysis is expected to be ready for the next meeting of the School Committee on April 30^th at 7:00 at Town Hall. This meeting is open to the public and all are invited to attend, though time constraints may not allow for the same open question/comment period as we have seen at the public meetings at Runkle.

RSBC will meet again in early May to designate a “preferred option.”  The preferred option may be a selection of one of the four options, or it could be an amalgamation of features from each of the concepts.  Following this decision, there will be a public meeting on Monday, May 18^th at 7:00pm at Runkle to hear about the preferred option. 

In order to maintain the aggressive timetable that has been set for this project, RSBC intends to authorize DPC to proceed to the next phase of design (the Schematic Design) with an approved concept by the end of May.  This will require input from the MSBA as well.

Key Dates:

Public Meeting (presentation of concepts—no cost information) – April 16th, 8:00 am at Runkle School (cafeteria)

School Committee Meeting (presentation of concepts, with cost information) – April 30th, 7:00 pm at Town Hall

Public Meeting (presentation/discussion of preferred concept) – May 18th, 7:00 pm at Runkle School (library)

Feedback:

We have been collecting questions and comments about all aspects of the renovation in our digital Suggestion Box.  Please participate!  

Note: For background on the information discussed in this edition, see the March 27th edition of The Renovation Report.