THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, MARCH 22, 2024 Page 11 DISCUSS | FROM PAGE 2 “We’re not trying to evict anyone or end programming,” City Council President Robert Van Campen reacted. The building is in Ward 5, prompting him to cede the president’s gavel to Councillor-at-Large Stephanie Smith for the discussion. Van Campen also wanted to know what the cost of a retrofi t would be to use currently unused space as public school classrooms to alleviate overcrowding in the schools. “That’s the open question,” he feels. “We’ve got this white elephant of the space issue in the schools and the old EHS and the former Pope John High School underutilized. A tremendous amount of opportunity is being lost in those two buildings.” “Could we use space for classrooms?” DeMaria responded rhetorically. “I’m open to that, but there will be a cost. I don’t want to, but I’d rather do that than use Pope John. Using Pope John will cost $80 million and I’m trying to limit the amount of money were spending. I’d rather get it to a developer who pays taxes and repurpose it for housing for seniors and veterans and pay the note off .” Ward 6 Councillor Peter Pietrantonio later asked if part of the old EHS could be torn down, while leaving other parts for the current users to use, and Pope John could be used to relieve overcrowding, also promoting DeMaria’s response about associated costs. Ultimately, he wants a new High School to be built and to, presumably, convert the current one to a Middle School and move grades 6-8 out of neighborhood schools. That process could take years, if it happens at all, at a cost of $500 million or more, although the city would receive some help from the state. Everett is one of the very few school systems with kindergarten to 8th grade neighborhood schools, although at one time the Parlin School was a Junior High. The 2019 closure of Pope John and the age of the old EHS prompted the building of the current High School in 2007 and eventually led to K-8 neighborhood schools. Looming over all this like a Sword-of-Damocles is the fact that insurance companies won’t cover the building unless it’s repaired and the window of opportunity is short. “Current eff orts are no longer suffi cient to continue to insure the building and the policy expires in January 2025,” DeMaria reported. “We could continue patching, but the insurance company said you can’t. You have to repair the roof. It’s a recruitment being imposed on us. All I’m asking is to keep the insurance and keep programs running. I believe residents who rely on the space should continue to have the option of accessing the services they need. Now residents don’t have to go outside the city for those services. This is a one-time ask. Do I need more money to maintain the building? No. I won’t come to you for more money unless you want to use it for another purpose.” “We have 10 months to fi gure out if the old EHS is part of our plan,” Van Campen offered, to which Director of Facilities Maintenance Angelo Febbo responded, “If you miss this window, prices will go up. We won’t be able to begin the work in June and you can’t do a roof project in the winter.” As Smith tried to wind things down, DiPierro noted that Councillor-at-Large John Hanlon, Ward 1 Councillor Wayne Matewsky and Ward 2 Councillor Stephanie Martins were not at the meeting. “We owe it to our colleagues not here that they be part of this discussion and to tour the upper fl oors,” he said, in reference to a lower-fl oors-only tour members took Monday, March 4. DeMaria agreed. “You should,” he said, while mentioning that the members will have to fill out liability forms. Free New England Aquarium Passes at the Everett Public Libraries N ow available at the Parlin Memorial Library, pick up your ticket to the New England Aquarium! For a limited time only, passes will be available for patrons of the Everett Public Libraries allowing for one free admission per patron. That’s right, free admission! To pick up a pass, you must be an Everett resident and have a library card from either the Parlin Memorial Library or the Shute Memorial Library. Passes are limited to one per patron per month, and are only available while supplies last. Please be sure to bring your library card with you, or sign up for one at your local library. All you need for a library card is a form of photo identifi cation and a proof of address. With a library card, you have access to all of our museum passes, including the Museum of Science, Boston Children’s Museum, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Peabody Essex Museum, the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture, and the Franklin Park and Stone Zoos! For more information about museum pass requirements and restrictions, visit everettpubliclibraries.org/museum-passes or call the Parlin Memorial Library at (617) 3942300 or Shute Memorial Library at (617) 394-2308.
12 Publizr Home