AI-generated transcript of Design Option A 1.1

[Jenny Graham]: So I think we can go ahead and maybe dive into some of our options. This video, I think we're going to talk about the A options. So Matt, can you tell us what A and B means just for anybody who had a hard time sort of following along with those 29 choices?

[Matt Rice]: sure yeah and we tried to simplify it in terms of understanding and that's really where this a b c and d nomenclature came from but the a options were really i focused on the code repair scenario for the project this is a scenario that is dictated by the massachusetts school building authority in terms of making sure that we have a baseline understanding of what it would actually take to repair, to fix the building that is here. And so, when I say fix it, it really does cover the whole range of things that are wrong with this building right now. Certainly, it would address things such as the lack of energy code compliance here, both in the exterior envelope as well as the mechanical systems, the electrical systems. All these things are not code compliant as they would stand, so they would all need to be replaced as part of that baseline option. In addition to replacing all of the systems that we have here, we also need to address accessibility. This current building is inaccessible in a whole variety of different ways, be it the lack of functional elevators, be it the toilet rooms and their accessibility, but also moving beyond accessibility and thinking about sort of these topics of universal access and design, which this building does not address. And so within the building itself, we have to address the accessibility issues, but also outside the building on the site. So if we're fixing the parking lots, We do need to regrade them so that there are appropriate paths from the actual handicapped accessible parking spots up to the entrance of the building and through the building as well. So it's not limited to just fixing the building itself, but really the entirety of the site where we have code compliance issues.

[Jenny Graham]: And so when we talk about code compliance, we're talking about the things that are sort of invisible, right, to lots of people in terms of like, if we did this project, we would finish the project, and the building would look the same or different.

[Matt Rice]: It would look exactly the same at the end of the day. And this is part of what's prescribed as part of this code upgrade option from the MSBA. It's really intended to try to provide a baseline understanding of what does it take to fix this particular structure. and we know that the price tag for this as it's been estimated is considerable and that's because it does touch almost every portion of this building just jumping back into the code aspects as well seismic code design for this building is not currently addressed here so In order to address that, we would end up having to demolish some of the interior walls, some of the exterior walls, to put in structural cross braces, and then rebuild those walls in the same exact place. And so again, it's a little bit of a theoretical exercise to understand the fixing portion of it, but that's really what we want to understand. It's not necessarily changing anything that we have here. It's not adding any space to this building as well. So when we're thinking about the additional programs that would be coming here, we're not able to actually meet some really core components of the educational plan through this code upgrade option. And that's a key aspect of it to really take into consideration when we're looking at this particular option.

[Jenny Graham]: Great. And I think the other thing worth noting about the ed plan that we talk about so commonly is that it was envisioned by a cross-collaboration of teachers, administrators, and students to talk about what should education look like going forward versus what does it look like today or what did it look like when this building was put up. That ed plan also calls for things like expansion of our CTE programs to allow more people in, so we have smaller wait lists. And it also says we're going to increase the number of CTE offerings by four shops. And this code upgrade plan would not allow for any of those things. So when we say it doesn't meet the ed plan, those are like some of the real sacrifices in my mind that we would have to make. and we would have to pay $437 million, and we would not have the opportunity to cost share with the MSBA.

[Matt Rice]: That's correct. So the code upgrade option would only be reimbursable by the MSBA, or they would only participate in it, if it did meet the ed plan. And for all the reasons that you just described, it does not. And so there would be no contribution by the MSBA in that dollar value for this particular option. That's definitely important to keep in mind.

[Jenny Graham]: Yeah, and one of the reasons that we didn't spend a lot of time talking about A in our meeting on the 27th is because A was moving forward regardless of any amount of discussion we were going to have because it's part of MSBA's program requirements. So I imagine we'll talk more about A as we get down to selecting out of six to get to one. And there'll be conversation at that point about A, I think in maybe a little bit more detail than we've had so far. Yeah, I think the A option is a good grounding for like to answer sort of the question in my mind, which is what is wrong with this building and what would it take to just like fix it up, right? And that number, I knew it was going to be a big number, but it even surprised me when I saw $437 million to really effectively not be able to like move the building forward.