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Pilgrim School Work Waits on DEM’s Say Oct. 17

[CREDIT: Rob Borkowski] Warwick Veterans Middle School, 2401 W Shore Rd, Warwick, RI, is the venue for the Warwick School Committee meetings.

[CREDIT: Rob Borkowski] Warwick Veterans Middle School, 2401 W Shore Rd, Warwick, RI, is the venue for the Warwick School Committee meetings. Thursday night, the School Committee learned work on Pilgrim School work may soon resume.
[CREDIT: Rob Borkowski] Warwick Veterans Middle School, 2401 W Shore Rd, Warwick, RI, is the venue for the Warwick School Committee meetings. Thursday night, the School Committee learned work on Pilgrim School work may soon resume.
WARWICK,  RI — Work on the new Pilgrim High School may resume soon, according to John Bates, Project Manager for Left Field, depending on the go-ahead from the Department of Environmental Management.

Bates told the school committee Thursday that the state’s Department of Environmental Management has control over the property and has been performing contaminant remediation.

“The reality is, there are a lot of steps the state requires us to take before we can even get out there and start working,” Bates noted. “It’s only so fast we can move. To this date, we have distributed mailings, notifying the public of the issue. We’ve held two informational meetings at the high school.”

Bates said there has been an additional two rounds of testing at the site. There are now an additional 350 “test pits” dug out on the athletic fields. There were three different reports submitted to DEM for their review and approval as required. 

Bates said the final report was sent on Oct. 10 and the team at DEM expects Left Field to get final approval for the first phase of work either on Oct. 17 or early next week. 

Bates did not provide an update on Toll Gate High School. Last August, the school committee voted to amend the cost of construction for Pilgrim High School to $153, 427, 714. That amount is $8 million more than the Dimeo Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP).

Bates said no GMP for Toll Gate would be provided until November. 

Bates previously noted completion of the schools would be delayed. Pilgrim was slated to be completed in August 2027. That date has been pushed forward to November 2027.

Toll Gate was expected to be completed in August 2027. Bates said the new move-in date would be December 2027, during the winter vacation. 

The full meeting video can be accessed on the Warwick Public Schools You Tube Channel.

Joe Siegel
Author: Joe Siegel

Joe Siegel is a regular contributing writer for WarwickPost.com. His reporting has appeared in The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro and EDGE.

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