PAWTUCKET – Local and state education leaders on Thursday put ceremonial shovels into the ground at McCoy Stadium to officially commence construction of a new unified city high school that’s expected to open in September 2029.
The new $326 million, 375,000-square-foot high school will be built on the site of the former home of the Pawtucket Red Sox, which has sat vacant since the team moved to Worcester, Mass., in 2021. The school, expected to house approximately 2,100 students, will replace the aging Charles E. Shea and William E. Tolman high schools and is part of an ongoing push across the state to either renovate existing school buildings or build new ones.
“This project will provide transformative opportunities for generations of Pawtucket Schools students to come, and we thank our residents for their support and patience as we embark on this exciting project,” Mayor Donald R. Grebian said in a statement. “McCoy Stadium holds a special place in the hearts of so many, filled with cherished memories of baseball games, concerts, and community events. While we honor and celebrate that rich history, we also move forward and focus on what’s next for our city.”
Voters in November 2022
overwhelmingly approved a $330 million bond to build the new school. Demolition of the 83-year-old baseball stadium is currently underway and the site is expected to be enabled for construction of the school by July, the city says.
The new city high school will also be the most expensive construction project for a single school in the state’s history. By comparison, the 306,562-square-foot East Providence High School cost $189.5 million to build.
According to
formal renderings shared publicly by the city, the new school will have multiple four-story-high curved buildings with state-of-the-art classrooms and labs. The rotunda building at the school’s center will house the cafeteria and media center.
The school will also have several career and technical education classrooms for various courses, including automotive, HVAC, manufacturing, hospitality and culinary, and sports medicine. A family and food pantry will also be housed within the new school.
The property also includes baseball, softball and football/soccer fields, the renderings show, as well as a “marketplace” for community engagement.
The project team to build the new school includes Colliers Project Leaders as project manager, Shawmut Design and Construction as construction manager and Jonathan Levi Architects as the primary architect, city officials say. Construction is expected to be completed by December 2028, as required by the state.
Also, city officials say the new high school will provide more than $7.7 million in annual savings in “out of district” costs associated with sending students to other communities that have programs not currently offered by the school district.
“This project represents a bold investment in our students, our families, and the future of education in Pawtucket,” Acting Pawtucket School Superintendent Randy Buck said in a statement. “We will turn the page to a new chapter, one that ensures every student has access to a modern, innovative learning environment that prepares them for success in college, careers and beyond.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
