West Bridgewater School Building Committee Votes to Drop Athletic Field From Elementary School Project

WEST BRIDGEWATER — August 26, 2025 — West Bridgewater School Building Committee drops planned athletic field, approves all-electric heat pump system for new elementary school. The committee, meeting August 26 for its seventh schematic design session, voted to remove the athletic field from the consolidated K-6 elementary school project at the Rose L. MacDonald School site off Stepping Stone Drive, with three members opposing, after the design team reported the available footprint supports only a youth U9/U10 soccer field too distant from the building for regular school use. The space will be designated as a contractor staging area and may be seeded as open lawn at project close. In a separate unanimous vote, the committee adopted a recommendation from a seven-member sustainability subcommittee to install an air source hydronic heat pump system — an all-electric building design projected to save approximately $978,000 over a 50-year lifespan compared to the baseline variable refrigerant flow system, with a nine-year payback and an incremental upfront cost of roughly $900,000 above the $13.4 million baseline. Geothermal was set aside due to site soil uncertainty. The committee's next meeting on September 9 will include a consequential vote on whether to hire a general contractor or a construction manager at risk.