Boston Council Weighs MSBA Bid for Madison Park as Construction Timeline Stretches to 2029

BOSTON — March 3, 2025 — Boston City Council committee scrutinizes $700 million Madison Park vocational school bid as timeline slips to 2029. The Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Councilor Brian Worrell, held a March 3 hearing on two dockets authorizing statements of interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority — one for the core program covering Madison Park Technical Vocational High School and one for accelerated repairs at nine schools including Hurley K-8, Mildred Avenue K-8, and Orchard Gardens. Dellaverne Stanislaus, BPS Chief of Capital Planning, told councilors that post-pandemic construction inflation drove estimates from roughly $500 million to between $680 million and $720 million, and that MSBA partnership — which would reimburse roughly one-third of costs, or an estimated $230 million — is now "the clearest path forward." Carlton Jones, Executive Director of the Public Facilities Department, confirmed the city has spent approximately $5.996 million on Madison Park planning to date, including a paused design contract with Perkins and Will of which $2.9 million has been expended. Councilor Erin J. Murphy pressed the panel on the O'Brien School, which shares the Madison Park complex, and received no firm commitment on that building's future. The accelerated repair application is due March 21 and the core program application April 11; the full council must vote on both dockets before those deadlines.