WORCESTER – The City of Worcester has opened a bid for the replacement of windows and doors at Worcester East Middle School.
For the past several years, District 3 city councilor George Russell has advocated for the much-needed replacement of the aging school’s windows and doors.
The scope of the work will occur in two phases, with Phase 1 to include replacing windows at the front facade of the building on Grafton Street and on the south side of the building facing Dorchester Street. Phase 2 would include replacing the windows on the north side of the building facing Flower Street and at the rear of the school facing Arthur Street.
Phase 1 is expected to be completed over the summer school break in 2025, and Phase 2 is expected to be completed over the summer school break in 2026.
Under the proposed work, bidders are also being asked to include the replacement of ground-level entry doors on three sides of the building. The historic front doors will be refinished and remain in place.
The city is requesting bidders to provide alternate pricing to remove additional rotted wood windows on the school’s interior courtyards, not visible from the street.
In all, the additional work would at least include replacing roughly 100 windows and could include replacing all of the nearly 160 windows at the school, as pricing permits within the allocated project budget.
The multi-phase project is estimated to have a total cost of around $6.3 million.
According to city construction documents, the anticipated construction start date is June 2025, and the expected overall completion date is October 2026. Bidders are required to have their bids submitted to the City of Worcester Purchasing Department by November 20, 2024.
Worcester East Middle serves 750 seventh and eighth grade students. The school was constructed in 1922 and opened as Grafton Junior High School at 420 Grafton St. in 1924. It was the first middle school built in Worcester. The school’s name changed to Worcester East Middle in 1971. The building is listed in the Massachusetts Historical Commission.
Note: This story has been updated since its original posting.
