Politics |

Ed Kennedy files bill to offset construction overruns at Lowell High School

LOWELL — State Sen. Ed Kennedy hopes that legislation he recently filed will help Lowell and other communities in the commonwealth address the cost overruns to their school rebuilding projects.

The bill, currently listed as Senate Docket 2395, is an act relative to increased material costs in school construction projects, and would earmark no less than $150 million of federal COVID-19 recovery funds for the School Modernization and Reconstruction Trust Fund. The Massachusetts School Building Authority uses that trust to fund school building projects.

“There are a lot of communities who went to the MSBA and got funding to move ahead with their project,” Kennedy said. “They found out later that the building material costs had skyrocketed, and had raised the price.”

Lowell is one of those communities, along with Groton at $16 million, Stoneham at $19 million and Somerville at $30 million, as well as others over their approved budgets.

“Lowell is not alone,” Kennedy said. “That’s why I filed the legislation.”

In 2019, the MSBA voted to commit $210 million to Lowell’s then-$344 million project. In March 2022, representatives from Suffolk Construction and Skanska said construction costs were going to be higher from supply-chain increases due to COVID.

Those budget overruns raised the project to its current $381 million cost, with the $38.5 million difference the responsibility of the city and its taxpayers. City councilors have long argued the unexpected costs should be the responsibility of the state.

Kennedy’s legislation seeks to use federal American Rescue Plan Act money to address the financial gaps.

“The commonwealth still has $1.75 billion in ARPA funds left over that have not been expended,” he said. “My legislation asks for no less than $150 million for the communities who have been impacted by the rising cost in building materials.”

City Manager Tom Golden said the prospect of the legislation addressing at least some of the increased cost of the state-of-the-art high school that serves 3,000-students, is good news.

“It’s a welcome relief to the City of Lowell residents, and this will help us keep our first-class high school moving forward,” he said.

The four-phased, six-year Lowell High School rebuild and renovation project started in 2020 with the teardown of the old Doctors Park and Riddick Field House, followed by the construction and opening of the new Riddick Athletic Center.

Phase 2 is underway with the steel framing of the new five-story Freshman Academy and a three-story addition of the back-end portion of the 1980s building closest to the new gym.

Lowell state Reps. Rodney Elliott, Vanna Howard and Rady Mom have signed on as co-sponsors to Kennedy’s bill, with Elliott filing a similar bill in the House on behalf of the delegation.

“This bill will aid communities in our districts to ease the financial hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Elliott said.

The MSBA funds schools by taking one penny from every sales transaction in the commonwealth. The Massachusetts sales tax is 6.25%, which Kennedy said adds up to a lot of pennies in the school building fund.

“It ends up in the billions of dollars,” he noted.

Kennedy said his legislation is important for communities like Lowell whose projects are already underway, but will also help communities planning to do school rebuilding projects.

“Let’s say the MSBA allows for up to $340 dollars per square foot,” Kennedy said. “But the actual cost in the market is north of $600 per square foot. They’re really not giving projects that are going forward enough money in today’s market, and those communities are going to end up with the same problem.”

The senator is actively seeking co-sponsorship of the legislation from more of his colleagues in the State House.

“It certainly would be helpful, and those communities would appreciate it a lot if the commonwealth were to step in and give them a helping hand,” Kennedy said.