Massachusetts Historical Commission wants more information on Wellesley high school construction plans

The Massachusetts Historical Commission is withholding, at least temporarily, its approval for Wellesley's plan to demolish the building in which poet Sylvia Plath studied literature as a young woman to make way for the town's new high school. The commission surprised the town's School Building Committee with a request for more information on plans for the $135.6 million high school, including copies of a dozen renovation options the town considered before settling on a plan to demolish the current 1938 Art Deco-style building.

From December 2008: Wellesley, Mass., voters have approved an $86.6 million debt exclusion to pay for a new $130 million high school, the largest capital project in the town's history. Supporters of a new high school had argued that the existing building - which includes a 1938 main building, a 1956 wing, and several later additions - does not meet enrollment or educational needs and could jeopardize the school's accreditation. But opponents had urged voters to renovate and add to the existing building.
Read The Boston Globe article.

EARLIER: The starkest battle lines over the Dec. 9 vote in Wellesley, Mass., on a property-tax increase for its proposed new high school - the town's largest-ever request for a capital improvement - seem not to be drawn by money. Many say say that the predominant topic of debate over the $87 million ballot measure is what it has been for years in Wellesley - new versus old. Proponents say the existing building - composed of a 1938 original section and several additions - is too small and too old and deteriorated to repair. Opponents say the building's inadequacies can be addressed through renovation and addition.
Read The Boston Globe article.