Nearly two months into a tide of opposition to their proposal to move the O’Bryant School of Math and Science, Mayor Michelle Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper maintained that the West Roxbury Education Complex is the best site for the new campus during a tour of the facility Monday morning.
“It needs significant work,” Wu said in the entrance of the building. “But as we go through, you’ll see that it really has the space and all the bones here for what would make for a remarkable campus. And the chance to build this out to really put another shining star in the BPS universe.”
The proposal announced in June would separate the O’Bryant School and Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, which currently share the Roxbury campus, allowing both school to expand their enrollment and offerings.
Walking through an indoor pool room, science lab, media room and outdoor athletic facilities in the massive complex Monday, leaders emphasized the opportunity to create athletic and educational opportunities for the students.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Richard O’Bryant, son of the school’s namesake and an alum, noting they were promised a new building when the school was renamed. … “Finding a space like that for a school, it’s hard in the city of Boston, and so it’s a great opportunity for our students to have a wonderful campus.”
In the fiscal year 2024 budget, the city has proposed $18.2 million to begin the demolition and redesign of the facility.
The proposal would include a demolition and gut renovation of the building, which was closed in 2018 due to major structural issues. Officials said Monday they are not yet sure of the potential timeline, but the facility may be opened to students around 2028.
District and city leadership previously led alumni through the site two weeks ago, a group which has given the proposal mixed reviews.
Members of the O’Bryant staff and school community have argued moving the district’s most diverse exam school from the more centralized, diverse Roxbury neighborhood out to West Roxbury is a threat to students’ commutes — with ride times for East Boston students potentially well over an hour — and community.
Leadership has previously made several suggestions to ease the commute burden, including a extensive shuttle service, but on Monday, Wu floated a new suggestion, pointing to Commuter Rail tracks visible nearby out a science lab window.
“That is the Commuter Rail line — it runs right by this campus,” Wu said. “We’ve been having conversations with the MBTA, the governor, the administration. If we could build a stop here, it’s going to be a longer timeframe to get the whole school rebuilt, and so the timing could line up if we move fast on the public transportation side as well.”
That would “completely change” the public transportation consideration, Wu said, making the campus directly accessible to the Forest Hills, Back Bay and South stations. The current Commuter Rail stop closest to the school is the West Roxbury station, about 1.3 miles away.
The existing large facility has several “unique” possibilities that don’t exist at other sites in the city, officials said — from the “beautiful outdoor space,” to the existing indoor pool, courts, fields and other athletic amenities, to the “sheer size” allowing the designers to work out instead of vertically.
As an exam school, Skipper said, the extensive offerings of the new campus can serve students from across the city.
“It really is something that can serve all students in the city, rather than put a high school that can only serve a particular population,” Skipper said. “And if we’re going to build this out and put a lot of dollars into it makes sense that we want to make sure that it serves all students well.”