Bennington High School

Challenge

MSK was retained to support the redevelopment of the former Bennington High School (Benn High) building to create a mixed-use property with residential, commercial, and municipal services, with frontage on Main Street and Pleasant Street in Bennington, VT.  

The redevelopment is a public/private partnership between the Town of Bennington and Hale Resources, LLC to repurpose the historic Bennington High School building. Since 2004, the 100,000 square foot building has remained vacant. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Solution

Our team provided support and coordination with the landowner and architect including survey, design, construction, and permitting. Survey efforts included conducting an existing conditions survey to collect topographic, building elevation, surface utility locations, stormwater, and sewer infrastructure elevation data in order to create an existing conditions plan. We also provided an ALTA survey, developed an easement plan, and gathered data for the generation of an Elevation Certificate.  

Site design included development of site layout, utility, grading and drainage, and construction details for submission to regulatory agencies to review in conjunction with permit applications. Permitting requirements included Local Land Use Permitting, the submission of an application for a Zoning Permit, and an application to the Town of Bennington Development Review Board. We also coordinated and provided applications for Stormwater Operational 9050 and Wastewater & Potable Water Supply permitting. The scope of the project required our team to coordinate with subconsultants and environmental engineers to accommodate the requirements associated with a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for contaminated soils onsite.  

Our construction administration team prepared final construction drawings and specifications, coordinated subcontractors, evaluated bidding, and reviewed all civil-related submittals, shop drawings, change orders, and payment requests. They also coordinated with the project team on permit requirements, conditions, and close-out following construction completion

Results

The redevelopment is currently slated to increase the supply and quality of housing by creating 17 perpetually affordable housing units and 22 additional market-rate units. It will also decrease the number of people experiencing homelessness by creating at least 3 units for those who have experienced homelessness.