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The School Committee voted 4-0 on Wednesday to award the Marblehead High School roof and HVAC replacement contract to Homer Contracting for $8.97 million, moving forward with a project that came in roughly $2.1 million under its general contractor budget allocation.
The contract now goes to the Select Board for final authorization.
The decision followed a unanimous recommendation from the Roof Subcommittee earlier in the week. Homer Contracting emerged as the lowest bidder among six contractors competing for the work.
"We got great bid coverage, with six bidders bidding this," said Leena Long of LeftField, the project management firm overseeing the effort.
Brian Dakin attributed the competitive bids to favorable market conditions.
"We're seeing an incredibly competitive bidding market," Dakin said.
The project addresses longstanding infrastructure problems at the high school, where a 25-year-old roof has experienced persistent leaks causing water damage to classrooms and equipment. The associated HVAC units have reached the end of their operational lifespan. Voters approved a debt exclusion earlier this year to fund the combined roof and HVAC replacement.
Liquid-applied option rejected
Committee members declined to pursue a liquid-applied roofing alternative that would have added approximately $2 million to the project cost. The technology had initially been expected to deliver savings compared with traditional roof replacement, but bid results showed the opposite.
"The expectation was that the liquid-applied coating was going to be materially less expensive than the recover," said Gene Raymond of Raymond Design Associates.
Only one of the three qualified roofing subcontractors priced the liquid-applied option lower than traditional replacement. The other two bid the alternative method substantially higher, driving up the overall cost.
Sub-committee member Ralph Wallace questioned whether the bidding process had accurately reflected market pricing for the alternative approach.
"You got to look at the gap between the membrane and liquid applied though, and say we must have done something wrong," Wallace said.
With the liquid-applied option adding $2 million rather than producing savings, committee members saw no justification for pursuing the more expensive approach.
Construction timeline
Work is scheduled to begin immediately after graduation in June 2026 and conclude by fall 2026. No on-roof construction is permitted during the school year, confining the project to a condensed summer timeline.
The Independent has requested comment from town officials on what will happen with the approximately $2 million in projected savings now that the project is tracking significantly under budget.
