Politics & Government

Mansfield's Robinson Window Project Moving Forward

Mansfield's Robinson School construction to move ahead slowly but surely.

The Mansfield Board of Selectmen heard from the Mansfield Housing Corporation’s Pro-Term Chair Maureen Doherty on Wednesday concerning the current project to replace the windows on the Robinson School.

The main issue up for debate concerned the need of a professional designer for the project, which Doherty said was essential for the project, both legally and for financial reasons.

“We need design professionals on the project because it is a controlled construction project,” she said. “It’s a building over 35,000 yard, it’s required by state building code.”

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Doherty added that, because this is a large-scale project, the designer is especially essential for the replacement. She said that, because the design is a window wall structure. This means that the superstructure for the glass is embedded in the wall, and would require work on the entire wall rather than just the windows.

“It’s not a window replacement like in the building we’re in now [the town hall],” Doherty said. “It’s the entire glass wall that run all the way into the building…It’s not just a little window replacement; you can’t go to Home Depot.”

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Doherty said that the Housing Corporation currently has 15 applicant firms for the project and could, in all probability, have a designer chosen by the following week. The only problem would be construction and funding. The construction for the full replacement, she said, would probably go for longer than summer break, and a phased construction would be preferable. Funding for the project would also be an issue.

“What will be done will be what is available as approved by town meeting for funding,” Town Manager William Ross said. “And then [more will be done] at some point, maybe at additional requests at town meeting for additional windows, but I don’t think there’s anything in the budget this year for it. But at the very least we’ll have the specifications.”

At the town meeting in 2011, the town approved $350,000 for the project, but it was not stated at the time or realized by town officials that the proposed figure would be inadequate for the project, and it would have to be phased. The figure was out of date for current construction costs.

“Whatever the price may be, I’m not an engineer I’m not a builder, but I think that it’s only fair that the residents that are voting on the issue make an educated decision on what the cost will be,” Chair Jess Aptowitz said.  

At the time of the meeting, an exact figure for the cost had not been established for the project, but since it is a phased project, Ross said that construction would continue as funds became available.

“People need to know that the $350,000 is a down payment,” Aptowitz said. 


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