Demolition of the Pierce School technically began in August, but now that the building’s exterior is coming down, the project has become much more visible – and potentially disruptive – to neighbors, commuters and other community members.
Brookline.News spoke with Lap Yan, the town’s director of capital construction, to try to answer some of your questions about the taxpayer-funded project, which includes building a new Pierce School on the site.
After working to clear the building’s interior, including mitigating asbestos, construction crews are “down to the nitty gritty of taking down the old 1970s building,” Yan said. “We’ve got large machines here, crushing it and sorting out the metals from the concrete.”
What is the timeline?
Demolition is expected to be complete by April, which is on schedule with the town’s plans. After the building is completely demolished, the process of constructing the new school’s foundation will begin.
The town is still expecting the new school to be ready for teachers and students to move in by summer of 2027, but Yan said it’s possible move-in might get delayed until early 2028.
What is the town doing to mitigate noise from the project?
“The demolition work is noisy, it’s loud, it vibrates the ground a little bit,” Yan said.
To mitigate that, the construction crews monitor vibration sensors on the job site. If vibrations rise above a certain threshold, crew members will stop the work and try to find other methods to complete it.
“We are only allowed to work from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Yan said.
To work beyond those hours, the crew needs to submit a noise variance, which must be approved by the town’s Select Board. A recent example of this type of after-hours work is when a large demolition machine had to be brought to the site by truck overnight because of state transportation requirements, Yan said.
What about dust?
The most common construction strategy for controlling dust is by spraying water from a large hose, which the team at Pierce will do whenever possible, Yan said. It’s easier in warmer weather, when there aren’t worries about creating ice.
“We do our best to try to keep the dust down and work around areas where dust doesn’t fly around,” he said.
Will traffic remain backed up on School Street?
One lane has been shut down on School Street since demolition began, and it will remain closed while construction is underway, Yan said. School Street is being used as the main point of delivery for equipment and materials for the project .
“At the beginning, the traffic pattern was very backed up on School Street,” he said, but it has improved as the project has progressed and drivers seem to have found alternate routes.
“It seems lighter now,” Yan said. “We expect it will be about the same probably for the next two years.”
Is the project on budget?
Yan said he expects more information to be released soon about the project’s budget by the end of the month, when its construction contractor provides a “guaranteed maximum price.”