The Wellesley School Building Committee (SBC) in a three-hour meeting voted 7-6 to build a new elementary school at the Hardy site over Upham.
The recommended design plan, option 7b for Hardy Elementary School, would allow students to remain in the existing school during the construction phase. One benefit of this design is that it centers the building in between play spaces, connecting everything together, said Wellesley Public Schools Supt. David Lussier.
SBC members before they voted discussed issues of traffic, neighborhood concerns, ledge blasting, removal of trees, equity issues, and more. Much of this was discussed at the recent Hardy/Upham public forum as well.
The SBC recommendation now goes to the Board of Selectmen and School Committee for approval. They will meet with the SBC on Oct. 1 to review the recommendation, with votes to be taken at subsequent meetings.
Town Meeting members will be given an update on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m., and will have a chance to ask questions and provide feedback.
The recommendation to build at the Hardy School site must be submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by Oct. 27. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2023.
Sept. 24 School Building Committee meeting recording (Courtesy of Wellesley Media)
So here’s a fun question, now that it’s officially Hardy to be rebuilt. Since both Hardy and Martin Road (south and north side of Route 9, respectively) are about 10′ below the crown of Route 9, can the Town & State put a bike and pedestrian tunnel from Martin Road directly into the new school lot, essentially at-grade? I called the Town’s Engineering Department this afternoon, and they pulled the GIS data for that stretch of Route 9. They told me there’s actually very little infrastructure under there (no MWRA aqueduct, etc.) and, of course, the Town owns all the land on the south side now. If we simply made Martin Road a vehicular dead-end right there (i.e., local Martin Rd. vehicular access only; Martin open to Cleveland, closed to 9), we’d have “Complete Streets” in the blink of an eye. No kid would ever have to cross Route 9. They could all just zip under Route 9. BTW, this would be vastly more advantageous to the Town than just a school-access pedestrian/bike tunnel. It would tie north and south together for kids/teens generally, without necessitating the use of Weston road, which is narrow and busy.
Great news! Hardy rocks! So, do the trees!