Lowell High renovation budget contingency falls to $4 million as school year nears

LOWELL — August 14, 2025 — Lowell's School Building Committee heard that the $381 million Lowell High School renovation is on track to hand over the west-campus Building C on August 22, just before the start of the school year. Skanska representative Kevin Kaine reported the construction contingency fund has been reduced to roughly $4 million, with pending change requests totaling approximately $7 million — a roughly $3 million gap attributed to Phase 3 extension-of-scope costs in the 1922 building. The auditorium, which already suffered a six-month delay, is targeting a December 2026 completion but was described by Suffolk Construction as "a challenge" due to unfinished HVAC, electrical, projection, and plaster work. On workforce metrics, the project's minority workforce reached 26.8 percent against a 15.3 percent goal, while the female construction workforce of 5.1 percent remained below the 6.9 percent target. The committee's next meeting is September 18.