Education

Gilbane Tops Off New School

Official topping off of the new school in Marblehead

Marblehead, MA – On Sept. 1, officials from the Marblehead School District joined representatives from Gilbane Building Company, LEFTFIELD, Raymond Design Associates, and Engineers Design Group to celebrate the official topping out of the town’s new, 82,000sf elementary school.

The new facility will accommodate approximately 450 students in grades kindergarten through third and will consolidate three elementary schools in the district under one roof. The project also involved the immediate abatement and demolition of two existing school structures and blasting of more than 10,000-CY of ledge to make room for the new structure.

Despite increased safety protocols and gathering restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, school administrators and the project team made it possible for the Marblehead community to have the opportunity to ceremoniously sign their names to the last beam being put into place, as is tradition during a topping out ceremony. The beam was staged in a secure location adjacent to the site a week prior to the event and school staff and community members, along with past and future students, donned their masks and staggered their visits to sign their names as part of the history of the new school.

During his ceremonial remarks, Marblehead Schools superintendent, John J. Buckey, noted, “Not only are we building a new school, we are doing it during a pandemic, but I am proud to say that we are still on time and on budget. I extend a huge thank you to Gilbane and Leftfield for keeping this project on track….”

Along with standing non-negotiable safety protocols for minimizing the effect of disruptive construction activities in a tightly settled area, the Gilbane team adapted to the current COVID-19 crisis by implementing strict health and wellness protocols that ensure the safety and cleanliness of the job site, as well as the surrounding community.