Waltham School Building Committee Approves NCAA-Size Gym Court for New High School

WALTHAM — April 29, 2019 — Waltham's School Building Committee voted unanimously to adopt gymnasium layout option 5B for the new Waltham High School, featuring a full NCAA-regulation 94-by-50-foot competition court offset to one side to allow two simultaneous events. Athletics Director Steve LaForest, who consulted both basketball coaches and co-curricular coaches before the meeting, told the committee that 5B "gives us the option of having two games concurrently" and provides three additional full varsity-size cross courts at 50 feet wide — a wider standard than the previously approved option 3. The committee also directed design firm SMMA to conduct a life-cycle cost assessment of three HVAC systems, including an all-electric variable refrigerant flow heat pump option, and to evaluate whether a LEED Gold certification — currently targeted at Silver — is achievable within the project budget. A back-of-envelope solar analysis found the building would need 4.6 to 6 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity to hit energy targets, far exceeding the roughly 50,000 square feet available on the roof. The meeting was the outgoing chair's final session; she announced she would pass the gavel to George Frost at the next meeting.