Several construction contracts related to the new middle-high school were reviewed and approved Monday night by the #MiddletownRI Town Council. Local leaders said the project remains in a good place and is "on time and on budget."
SCHOOL PROJECT COMING TOGETHER
MIDDLETOWN, RI (MAY 6, 2025) – Middletown has signed off on the bottom line for the first round of construction contracts for the new middle-high school.
At a meeting Monday night in Town Hall, the Town Council okayed bids on everything from site surveying and construction work to structural steel, concrete and more.
Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown told local leaders these were among the larger of more than three dozen contracts that will come before the council through the summer.
And while there were still more contracts to review, Brown said things were trending in the right direction with the school project.
“We’ve said from Day 1 we’re going to deliver the school we promised on time and on budget,” Brown said. “Those aren’t words I take lightly, none of us take lightly. We’ve said it repeatedly and we mean it.”
Brown thanked those involved, saying without everyone pulling together, the new school would not be in such good shape — so far.
“We’ve set an aggressive schedule and we’ve more than hit every benchmark and goal,” Brown said. “We’ve still got a ways to go, but none of this would have been possible without the support of the School Building Committee and the Town Council, who’ve done yeoman’s work here. And it goes without saying that our project managers Colliers and construction managers Gilbane need to be recognized as well. This has been a true partnership in the most complete sense of that word.”
As a details of a groundbreaking ceremony — tentatively slated for June 9 at 10 am — begin to come together, work on the new school just north of Gaudet Middle School on the former Starlight Drive-In land is expected in the next several weeks.
Previously, project officials have said the normal operations of the middle school and Gaudet Learning Academy would not be interrupted. Construction will generally take place weekdays from 7 am-4 pm and Saturdays on an as needed basis.
All construction vehicles will use the former drive-in driveway across from Park Drive so school traffic wasn’t impacted. Visit https://mdl.town/NYCU-Plan for details about that plan.
The school building is scheduled to be done in time for opening day of the 2027-2028 school year.
On Monday night, the council considered multiple resolutions for subcontracts connected for the school project. Each will be paid for from proceeds okayed by voters during a special election in November 2023. They were:
- Approving a $12.174 million contract for site work services and a $2.675 million contract for disposal of unsuitable construction soils to DiGregorio Corp. of Smithfield.
- Approving a $7.052 million contract for structural steel to Shepard Steel of Hartford, Connecticut.
- Approving a $5.427 million contract for concrete to JL Marshall & Sons of Pawtucket.
- Approving a $175,520 contract for materials testing and special inspection services to Prime Consulting of Norton, Massachusetts.
- Approving an $11,250 contract for precondition surveying services to Falvey Associates of Milford, Massachusetts.
Middletown Shared Facilities Director Ed Collins applauded Gilbane’s work, saying the Providence firm has done a great job soliciting bids and coming in with competitive packages to date.
Reflecting on his experience building schools in other locations, Collins said the numbers so far looked good, but he urged leaders and residents not to get ahead of themselves and say the project was “under budget.”
Too many times, Collins said he’s seen bids come in strong initially for items like steel and concrete, only to have factors outside a community’s control throw a wrench into things.
“I would caution anyone from using under budget…” Collins said. “We’re in a good place right now.”
Brown said through the summer, approximately three dozen additional contracts were expected to come before the council for review and approval.
He explained this is one of the benefits of the Construction Manager At Risk (CMAR) contract the town has with Gilbane.
Under the CMAR model, Gilbane was heavily involved during the design phase of the new school. As part of that dialogue, Gilbane representatives work closely with the architects and project team to provide cost estimates, schedule input and construction planning.
Brown said with the CMAR, Gilbane ultimately takes responsibility for managing the construction and delivering the project for a Guaranteed Maximum Price that serves as a cap on the total cost of construction.
Brown said this protects Middletown from cost overruns and other issues, except with defined situations. It also provides better cost control, flexibility with scheduling and more transparency for the council and general public.
Through this process, Gilbane breaks the project into different trade packages and performs competitive bidding for each segment. The results of these bids are filed with the town as Recommendation To Award (RTA) packages, the initial round before the council Monday night.
After all the RTAs packages are okayed by the council, town officials and Gilbane representatives meet to iron out the Guaranteed Maximum Price, a document subject to council review and approval, likely later this summer.
To view Brown’s memo to the council on the CMAR process, go to https://www.middletownri.gov/DocumentCenter/View/19064/School-Memo online.
Voters approved the new 211,000-square-foot school at a special election as the centerpiece of an ambitious plan to remake the entire school district.
The combined middle-high school was chosen to maximize efficiencies, save on costs and deliver the biggest bang for the buck with the new building.
As part of the plan, the existing Middletown High School building at 130 Valley Road will be transformed into a grade 2-5 learning center as well as the new offices for school administration and maintenance staff.
Around the corner, the Forest Avenue School building will be remade into a pre- kindergarten through first grade early childhood academy.
There is also a separate proposal to make the Aquidneck School on Reservoir Road into a community center, a first for the town.
Updates on the status of the school project are provided at almost every regular council meeting.
The volunteer School Building Committee guiding the project meets every other Wednesday to make sure everything remains on track. Visit https://mdl.town/NewSchool for more.
Document Link: https://mdl.town/NYCU-First-Round
About Middletown
The Town of Middletown is a vibrant municipality located on Aquidneck Island, known for its scenic beauty, historic landmarks, diverse economy and strong sense of community. For more information about all we have to offer, visit MiddletownRI.gov online.
Media Contact
Matt Sheley
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401-842-6543
msheley@middletownri.gov