Courtesy Habeeb and Associates
Triton’s Roofing Problem
Sixty-one million dollars is the amount of money needed to do all of the renovations needed for Triton High School. The roof and envelope of the building have only seen one renovation since its opening, 50 years ago. Leaks have been plaguing the school and faculty and students have long been affected by them. A renovation was done in 1999 and while the roof has been repaired, it has only been Band-Aid solutions, not permanent fixes.
A report was published about everything that needs to be redone in the school and the roof was one of the most urgent issues. The roof, windows, and the utilities on the roof are in need of replacement.
This report was first published by Habeeb and Associated in 2019. They concluded that the renovation of the roof and building envelope alone would amount to a sum of $13.7 million. The building envelope is the part of the building that separates the inside of the building from the outside elements. They broke the things that need to be done into four scopes. Scope one is defined as “Immediately necessary/critical.” Scope four is less critical things that are functional but don’t meet current codes.
The roof and building exterior are categorized as scope one. When asked what his biggest concern is, Christopher Walsh, Triton District facilities manager , immediately said the roof.
The main concern of the roof is the membrane which needs to be completely replaced and is coming up in some places. The membrane coming up is the cause for all of the leaks in the school, including the brown, rusty water that is leaking down the middle school gym wall. A couple months ago, $11,000 was spent to repair the leak and to clean the wall. There is already more brown liquid leaking down the wall. On the roof are 9 hvac units responsible for heating and cooling the school. Walsh described these hvac units as “End of life.”
The brick masonry of the outside walls are mildewed and have lichen so the walls need to be cleaned. Many of the exterior doors need replacement due to rusting and leaking. All of these things have been worn down over time due to the wind blowing across the salt marsh and other weather such as rain and snow.
While there are many urgent repairs, Forget estimates that any sort of renovations wouldn’t start until 2025 to 2026. Before repairs can start, there has to be a feasibility study done by the Massachusetts School Building Authority to review everything that needs to be done to the buildings. Each town has to vote for both the feasibility study and the renovation for anything to happen. Forget said “Six votes have to happen for this ever to be a reality.”
