New High School to Include Radio/TV Production Space

Maynard, MA – Of all the modern features in today’s new schools, Maynard High School presented a first for CTA Construction Co. Inc. – a radio and television station.
Maynard High is the proud home of WAVM, a student-run radio and cable TV station that is the “Eyes and Ears of Tigertown!” Along with all the typical features of a new school, Maynard High will include more than 3,000sf of radio and television production space.
Situated on the second floor of the 122,000sf building, the radio and TV station comprises its own suite of offices and studio space. The main entrance leads to a reception area and offices for station management. Beyond that are two radio booths and a TV studio that will include sprayed acoustic insulation, sound underlayment, acoustical clouds and partitions to improve sound quality and control ambient noise. The station includes two editing rooms, a control room, equipment and storage space and a classroom. The station broadcasts during the school year on local cable TV and on 91.7FM from a radio tower built in 2010.
As the general contractor on more than 45 public schools and buildings valued at over $700 million, CTA has constructed everything from an indoor track elevated above a gymnasium to geothermal heating and cooling systems. Unique features present challenges that CTA’s project teams have experience managing.
Designed by Tappe Associates Inc. of Boston, the construction cost of the new Maynard High School will be about $36.7 million. The school will accommodate 410 students in grades 9 to 12.
As summer ended, crews were constructing the exterior envelope, putting up interior framing and installing mechanical, plumbing, fire protection and electrical systems. The skeleton of the building consists of 2,200 pieces of steel weighing 770 tons, about as heavy as 70 school buses.
The new school is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2013.
——————————————————–