Wakefield, MA – Local and state officials from the Commonwealth joined Superintendent David DiBarri, the Northeast Metro Tech School and Building Committees, and representatives from PMA Consultants, DRA Architects, and Gilbane Building Company to celebrate the official groundbreaking of the 380,000sf Northeast Metro Tech High School.
Once complete, the new facility will expand enrollment and serve approximately 1,600 students, upgrading career and technical labs and significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the existing school. With a focus on safety, Gilbane will construct the new school adjacent to the current, occupied facility without interruption to ongoing operations.
Designed by DRA Architects, with PMA Consultants serving as owner’s project manager, the new Northeast Metro Tech serves students from 12 member communities in Massachusetts, who supported the building project at the ballot box last year. The project is slated for completion by 2026.
During ceremonial remarks, former Massachusetts Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo noted the importance of the project, saying, “This is a celebration because I see this school, and all the vocational schools throughout this state, as being major engines for the economy of Massachusetts.”
Throughout the ceremony, current culinary students served hors d’oeuvres they had prepared and communications students helped in event production, preparing gifts, greeting guests, and designing promotional material.
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“We’re excited to mark the official start of this amazing project with the Northeast Metro Tech community,” said Mike O’Brien, senior vice president and business unit leader for Gilbane in Massachusetts. “This new school will provide students with a top-notch vocational education and we’re looking forward to being a part of that as we use this building project as a ‘living classroom’ for the NEMT student body, ensuring the construction of their new school provides applicable learning experiences.”
