The original Zervas Elementary School building was built in 1954 and was no longer meeting the City of Newton’s educational facility standards. The updated 80,000-square-foot elementary school project included various site improvements, including the acquisition of three adjacent parcels to create new parking areas. The site abuts sensitive wetland areas on two sides. Nitsch provided civil and transportation engineering services to support the new school design and construction.
To address site sustainability, our civil engineers designed a stormwater management system that included a series of bioretention swales in the main parking area and a porous pavement emergency access road.
Our transportation engineers examined the existing conditions related to parent and bus drop-off and pick-up, then evaluated several site plan layout alternatives regarding vehicle and pedestrian circulation for the new school, parking layout, access and egress to both Beacon Street and Beethoven Avenue. Nitsch collected traffic and crash data for the adjacent intersection of Beacon Street / Beethoven Avenue and prepared design improvements that reduced pedestrian crossing distance, increased pedestrian crossing time, improved sight lines, pavement markings, and traffic signal equipment, and overall traffic efficiency.
This project achieved LEED Silver Certification and was constructed using DCAMM’S CM-at-Risk delivery method.
Key Collaborators
Owner: City of Newton
Architect: Perkins Eastman
Contractor: W. T. Rich Company, Inc.
