School Committee Reviews Updated New Pilgrim High Designs

WARWICK, RI —  The revised New High Schools designs for the new Pilgrim High School met with a mixed reaction before the School Committee approved  it Tuesday.

The Pilgrim High School Schematic Stage Three Design was approved by a 4-0 vote. Member Michelle Kirby Chapman was absent.

Committee chairman Shaun Galligan said the design was “beautiful” but voiced some reservations about the proposed number of parking spaces at Pilgrim as well as the size of the gymnasium.

“We currently have 419 spaces at Pilgrim. The new design has us go down roughly 100 plus spaces,” Galligan continued. “Pilgrim has approximately 140 teachers, faculty, and vendors on site. When you add in 450 students who (may have a license to) drive, (even if you) cut that number in half to 225, you’re well eclipsing the 280 parking spaces that we’re advertising here.”

Galligan also wanted to see more fixed seats in the gymnasium: “I would hate for us to invest this much money into a facility and have to bring in temporary seating. You’ve utilized so creatively every little nook and cranny of the building so far. If you could just expand that a bit more to make the gymnasium just a little bit bigger, I just think it would be more representative of the current student population that we have and that we desire to have.”

The public will have the opportunity to learn more about the new Toll Gate and Pilgrim High School buildings at an interactive forum on August 21. The meeting will begin at 6 pm at Veterans Middle School

“We have heard your concerns,” said Chris Spiegel, the Senior Project Manager for Left Field Project Management. “In the absence of us making this presentation, people are only seeing snippets of items and they’re drawing their own conclusions.”

Construction is set to begin in March 2025. Spiegel said the project was on budget.

The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) has given favorable feedback about the Pilgrim design.

Spiegel told the School Committee the “design will change” due to more meetings with stakeholders, more information about the site, and more information about the budget and the current construction market.

“We are staggering the work that needs to be done,” Spiegel explained.

Spiegel noted the project was on budget and on schedule. 

“This is very hopeful,” said committee member Leah Hazelwood. “I think a lot of people are going to be very impressed with what’s coming to Warwick.”

“What you’ve shown tonight is really really close to what the original (design) was,” Vice Chair David Testa said to Spiegel.

“We are doing incredibly well with the current market conditions we’re in. Everyone is working together,” Spiegel noted. “We have not cut educational program space. We thank everyone for their support.”

Last April, the committee approved Dimeo Construction to serve as Construction Manager for the new high schools. In November 2022, voters approved a $350 million bond to pay for the high schools. The total cost of the new Pilgrim High is $175 million. The total cost of the new Toll Gate High is $174.5 million.

Saccoccio and Associates will be working on the design for Toll Gate. Pilgrim will be designed by Saam Architecture. 

Kiln project over budget

Stephen Gothberg, Director of Buildings and Grounds, informed the committee about the new kiln rooms at Warwick Veterans and Winman Middle schools. The project was $72,000 over budget, Gothberg noted.

The committee was not certain where the funds would be found to complete the project.

Director of Finance Brandon Bohl said the district was in for an “extremely tight fiscal year” due to no more federal ESSER funds. 

“There’s no good answer in terms of which account are we going pull the (money) from,” Bohl noted. “We’ve shown a trend over the past couple of years of being over budget on salary. We need to start to rein that in over the next couple of years.”

“It’s essential we get these kilns operational,” Galligan added. 

The meeting video can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDlFytOkmAE