Name: Peter Shapiro
Address: 113 Waltham Street
Precinct: 4
e-mail address: pdshapiro [at] yahoo.com ()michaelschanbacherlexpb [at] gmail.com (
)phone number:
Community Activities:
- Lexington resident since 1975, on Wachusett Dr. (48 years) and Waltham St. (2 years)
- Former management consultant at Arthur D. Little, Inc., and in private practice
- Two children went through Lexington schools (Bridge, Clarke, LHS)
- Two grandchildren soon to enter Lexington school system
- I’ve advocated at Planning Board meetings on matters important to residents on unaccepted streets such as Wachusett Drive
- I’ve advocated at Town Meetings concerning demolition delays for houses listed by the Historical Commission.
- I seek now to have a more direct say on decisions that affect our town and believe that I can make a positive contribution as Precinct 4 member of Town Meeting.
The School Building Committee has approved a plan, “Bloom” for the new high school and building on the current playing fields in the Center. Do you support this decision? If not, what would you propose as an alternative?
I support the LHS rebuild and the debt exclusion to pay for it. I’m persuaded that “Bloom” will be the fastest and least disruptive rebuild option, and if elected I will vote in Town Meeting in favor of Article 97 legislation that's required to relocate the football and other athletic fields to allow for LHS Bloom construction.
According to project manager Dole+Whittier's preliminary estimates, the cost will be huge, estimated (as of October 2024) at $648M, or $508M net of anticipated incentives & rebates, including the cost for field house renovation and administrative central office space. However D+W also calculated that our cost will be comparable to that of other recent high school rebuilds in Massachusetts when the latter are adjusted for size, scope, and inflation.
As we move to the next design phases for LHS Bloom, ongoing cost assessments will be increasingly detailed, and essential to ensure that we manage costs as effectively as possible.
My bottom line: Bloom was selected after careful and deliberate consideration and it's our best choice for a new LHS. We need this project. Let's get it done.
