The Tobin Montessori and Darby Vassall Upper Schools and Community Complex opens Tuesday, the start of the Cambridge school year, rounding out nearly four years of construction and a $299 million investment by the city.
The opening completes the second-most expensive public school project in the state after the $374 million construction of Waltham Public Schools last year.
Proposed at $200 million, the Tobin and Vassall campus project saw three additional requests for project funding since 2018, including a $49 million dollar addition in 2022.
Former city manager Louis A. Pasquale cited “enhanced sustainability and resiliency features” and Covid-era supply chain shortages in a 2022 order explaining the cost increase.
The construction was part of a larger 2011 Cambridge spending project that built new Martin Luther King Jr. and Putnam Avenue Upper schools; and the King Open and Cambridge Street Upper Schools and Community Complex.
The physical construction is marked by a name change from the Vassal Lane Upper School to honor Darby Vassall, a former enslaved person turned civil rights activist. The name change notably adds a second “L” to “Vassall,” in response to a 2023 motion to honor the name of the enslaved family in place of the family of enslavers.
Located at 197 Vassal Lane, West Cambridge, the new 359,100-square -foot complex will house 316 students grades K-5 in the Tobin section and 300 students grades 6-8 in the upper school, according to a Tuesday press release from the city.
The campus features “state-of-the-art” learning spaces, including Steam labs, libraries, gymnasiums and a large auditorium, and various outdoor space renovations, including the expansion of Father Callanan park, according to the press release.
As part of the city’s Net Zero Action Plan, the facility was updated with energy efficiency standards, including maximized green space, geothermal walls and a 1.25-million-gallon underground stormwater tank “designed to address climate-related flooding and support the city’s climate resilience goals,” the press release says. The tank cost $22 million, which the city does not include in the school construction budget, city spokesman Jeremy Warnick said.
The new facility also allows for expansion of the Department of Human Service Programs after-school offerings, reflecting the city’s priority toward “strengthening Cambridge’s out-of-school time system and ensuring that more families have access to high-quality after-school care,” city manager Yi-An Huang said.
The city plans a public opening of the facility Oct. 18. Updates on the project are here.
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Per the City, the actual cost is $320 million, making this the third most expensive school ever built in the US (and the most expensive ever on a per student basis). Please update your figures.