Arlington Delays Demolition Of Old High School

ARLINGTON, MA — The Town of Arlington has delayed the demolition of the old high school building to allow students to start the 2023-2024 school year without disruption, the district said Wednesday.

This decision will allow a normal schedule for all students by providing additional classrooms until the Phase 2 Humanities building is available in September 2023. However, the postponed demolition means completion of the Phase 3 buildings, which include the gymnasiums and athletic facilities, will be three months later than originally scheduled.

Consequently, the Phase 3 athletics wing is now anticipated to be completed in December 2024 and the Phase 4 athletic fields and site work is now anticipated to be completed in September 2025.

The $1.2M costs associated with the decision to delay demolition will be drawn from the project’s contingency fund and does not increase the overall cost of the project, the district said. The Red Gym will continue to be available until the new gymnasium is completed and Peirce Field will be open throughout construction.

"When making this decision, each committee factored in student well-being, risks of considered options, and fiscal responsibility,” Superintendent Elizabeth Homan said in a letter to the school community. "I would like to thank the AHS Building Committee and School Committee for their thoughtful and thorough discussion regarding this difficult decision."

Homan said Phase 1 of the four phase project finished earlier this year and AHS students and staff have been using the new Performing Arts and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math) wings.

Phase 2 construction is well underway and framing for the Humanities wing, cafeteria, central spine, library, district administration and preschool is expected to be completed by the end of November.

Additional details about the schedule, as well as construction progress photos and videos, can be found on the AHS Building Project website at www.ahsbuilding.org.