Industrial Site Converted to School RF Walsh Project Managers

Worcester, MA – RF Walsh Collaborative Partners recently celebrated the completion of the new Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School and athletic fields.

Worcester, MA – RF Walsh Collaborative Partners recently celebrated the completion of the new Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School and athletic fields.

RF Walsh was the project management firm on the $15 million project and a critical member of the development team that helped transform the seven-acre Worcester Brownfield site to a state-of-the-art academic institution. The new building, designed by Regent Associates, enables the school to provide additional advantages to students, including high school sports, onsite prepared meals instead of prepackaged food, and a fully equipped concert hall for musical performances and school plays. New features include a kitchen, gymnasium, fitness center, 440-seat auditorium, enhanced science and laboratory space, educational common areas and other academic and administration space. The green turf athletic fields include space for soccer, baseball, lacrosse and field hockey, along with exercise stations for faculty and a playground for the elementary school. Transforming the former manufacturing factory required a variety of steps, and took about two years from initial planning and design to construction and completion. RF Walsh Collaborative Partners worked with the development team to remove unsuitable soils and three underground storage tanks filled with cleaning solvents and soap, which were found at the start of construction. The site also contained a recreational firing range in the basement with large amounts of lead and a utility tunnel and pump room with exposed asbestos – all of which had to be removed.