On Nov. 5, 2022, a total of 58.8%of 33,045 Warwick voters casting ballots approved a $350-million bond issue to build new Toll Gate and Pilgrim high schools.  Next week, two groundbreakings will be held – the first on Monday, June 9 at 1 p.m. at Toll Gate and the second on Tuesday, June 10 at noon at Pilgrim – in a symbolic start to a process that has the schools opening  in 2027.

Symbolic, because the planning, design, site borings and bidding on construction materials started more than a year ago. The shovels-in-the-ground ceremonies, however, are the visual starting gun of the two projects that have been at the center of City Council and School Committee meetings for months.

Acting superintendent William McCaffrey said last week that, in addition to a speaking program, sixth-graders from elementary schools feeding into Pilgrim and Toll Gate would be in attendance. Those students will be the first to attend the new schools when they’re completed.

While the groundbreakings are public, invitations were also emailed to about 100 people.

“It will happen,’ McCaffrey said of school construction.  “It’s going to change the city for the better.”

School Committee member and school building committee chair David Testa said he is elated to have reached this milestone.

“After five years and a lot of hard work by a lot of people, I'm excited to be finally breaking ground. I've said from the beginning that having high schools that look the same to your grandchildren as they did to you when you attended them was nothing to be proud of. These buildings have long outlived their effectiveness as high schools,” he said in a statement.

School Committee Chair Shaun Galligan called ground breakings “historic moments.”

“This is more than just the start of a construction project; it’s the beginning of a bold new chapter for education in Warwick. These schools represent our collective investment in the future of our students, our families and our city. They will be modern, innovative spaces designed to support the next generation of learners and leaders,” he said. He added he is grateful for the community’s patience and continued support.

“We’re not just building schools, we’re building Warwick’s future,” he said.

Both new schools will rise from the athletic fields of the existing schools. When the new schools are completed, the existing buildings will be demolished to be used as sites for new athletic facilities. At the Toll Gate campus, one of the first signs of the new school will be the demolition of the former Drum Rock Elementary School slated to start this week and the “clearing and grubbing” of the site.

“We want to make sure the public is safe,” said Chris Spiegel, project manager for LeftField. He said fencing will go up around the site, as will security cameras and signs to maximize safety and security.

Site work at Pilgrim won’t start as quickly because the School Department is still waiting for Department of Environmental Management permits after testing showed questionable levels of soil arsenic.    

The school administration is purposely not making a big deal of the groundbreakings as they will occur while school is in session, which limits their participation and presents parking limitations.

Steven Gothberg, director of construction for the School Department, said a more inclusive community ceremony will be held when the final steel beam is lifted into place in a “steel topping,” which is projected to take place late this fall or early winter.

Chris Spiegel, project manager for LeftField said the steel topping would give community members including students at both schools the opportunity to sign the final beam before it is hoisted into place as well as stage events that includes student participation, music, possible burial of a time capsule and remarks from officials.  

Bids are below projected costs

Meanwhile, there’s more to celebrate than simply the start of construction. Now that bidding has begun on, projected prices are coming in lower than projected.

“We’re going to be in good shape,” Gothberg says cautiously.

With an estimated 25% of bids received on Pilgrim and 15 to 20% on Toll Gate, steel and concrete for the two schools are about $6,250,000 “to the good.” Last Tuesday in a special meeting to comply with the law on teacher-layoff notifications, the School Committee approved Toll Gate steel and concrete bids.

Gothberg was anxious to “lock in” those bids in the event tariffs or other market factors kicked in. Gothberg assured committee chair Shaun Galligan even if tariffs are in effect by the time of delivery, the orders will have been placed prior to implementation exempting them.

Going into the bidding process, Gothberg and Spiegel projected the city would face $23 million in cost overruns above the $350-million bond. Of that $23 million, $17 million was earmarked as contingency. Spiegel said Friday that the buyouts [savings from the initial estimates] total $8 million. Additional savings are being realized in site work and the projected cost of elevators, Speigel said.

Spiegel said LeftField is building “risk protections” into the bids. As an example, he cites the award to Norgate Metal of Quebec for Toll Gate that is $2 million less than first projected. That savings considers the possibility the project may require additional beams for unexpected needs, a contingency built within the bid. If not needed, the savings on steel would be more than the $2 million.

“My goal is to come to you guys and say here’s whatever you’ve saved,” Spiegel said.