Canton Public Schools Selects LeftField as Owner’s Project Manager for Galvin Middle School Building Project

Selection Approved by MSBA at March 6 Board of Directors Meeting

CANTON — Superintendent Derek Folan is pleased to share that the Canton Public Schools and School Building Committee have selected LeftField Project Management as the Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) for the Galvin Middle School Building Project. 

The selection was approved by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) at its Board of Directors meeting on Monday, March 6. 

With offices in Boston, Providence and Worcester, LeftField has been providing owner’s project management services for 15 years. LeftField has extensive experience with public K-12 school building projects, including the Waltham High School, Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Lynn, Morton Middle School in Fall River, Billerica Memorial High School, and more. 

As the OPM, LeftField will provide project management services throughout the duration of the project. The OPM provides advice and consultation with respect to design, value engineering, scope of the work, cost estimating, scheduling, construction and more. A contracted OPM is required by state law for all MSBA-funded projects.

With the approval from the MSBA, a team from LeftField has been assigned to the Galvin Middle School Project and will work with and provide guidance to the District through all MSBA project phases. 

“We are pleased to have LeftField approved by the MSBA as the Galvin project’s Owner’s Project Manager, and we look forward to working with their team through this process,” Superintendent Folan said. “When making our selection, we felt that LeftField fulfilled all of the areas of expertise and experience we were looking for, and their project team brings a tremendous background in construction, architecture and educational programming. Their experience with MSBA-funded K-12 building projects will be invaluable as we move forward as well.”

As the District continues through the Feasibility Study Phase, a designer will be selected for the project. The OPM and selected designer will then document the educational programming, generate an initial space summary, document existing conditions, establish design parameters, develop and evaluate alternatives, and recommend the most cost-effective and educationally appropriate preferred solution to the MSBA for consideration. 

The Feasibility Study and Schematic Design Phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

About the Galvin Middle School Building Project: 

The current Galvin Middle School building is over 50 years old and is in need of educational, capital and maintenance improvements. It has space and infrastructure issues, as evidenced by the occurrence of two water main breaks in the fall of 2021, and is not configured in a way that lends itself to the full implementation of the District’s educational vision. The building no longer offers adequate space to effectively deliver the broad range of programming and support services the District seeks to offer and the families of Canton expect and deserve.

The District submitted a Statement of Interest (SOI), chiefly authored by Assistant Superintendent Sarah Shannon, for the Galvin project for consideration by the MSBA in the summer of 2021. The SOI noted three identified priorities in completing the project: eliminating existing severe overcrowding; replacing, renovating or modernizing school facility systems to increase energy conservation and decrease energy costs; and replacing or adding onto an obsolete building in order to provide for a full range of programs consistent with state and local requirements. The full SOI can be found here.

The project was accepted into the MSBA’s Core Program in March 2021 and moved into the Feasibility Phase in October 2022. For a full overview of phases as part of the MSBA process, click here.

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