National Spotlight On Two Worcester Projects
When big building projects are announced the focus tends to be on jobs – the number and duration of construction jobs that help employ local people and spur the regional economy. With a set of blueprints on the table and cranes reworking the site, little can be projected about the impact that a new building will have on its constituents and its community once it opens. Worcester has had its share of larger building projects the last few years, and two of them have just won significant national recognition in the last few weeks.
The new Worcester Technical High School, completed in 2006, was for decades just a gleam in the eye of community leader Ted Coghlin. Formerly known as the Worcester Vocational High School, the more than 90-year-old buildings and facilities were badly outdated and in need of replacement. The crusade to creatively fund and get the new building constructed was as community-based as it gets — and the outcome was a stunning, state-of-the-art $90 million dollar gem of a facility. Celebrations and a grand opening followed — but as magnificent as the facility may be, it’s what has happened inside its four walls with its students and staff that has been transformational.
Breaking Through
The school’s academic improvements have led it to be named a Breakthrough School by the MetLife Foundation and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Worcester Technical High School is one of only 10 schools nationwide (five middle schools and five high schools) to receive this recognition for its best practices and outstanding student results. This award follows another national recognition in 2009 from the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University. That honor was for gains on the state’s standardized test known as the MCAS. Specifically, 70 percent of eleventh-grade students at the technical high school scored in the advanced or proficient categories in English Language Arts and mathematics this year. That’s up from 26 percent in English and 34 percent in math just four years ago.
Yes, the new high school brought lots of needed construction jobs for a couple years, but those ended in 2006. The true impact of the new facility has been on its faculty and students who have a new belief in themselves.
Across town, the Hanover Theatre has become the established third leg to the entertainment stool in the city’s downtown. It joins established venues Mechanics Hall and the DCU Center as a truly regional attraction. Unlike the technical high school, which is a truly modern facility, Hanover Theatre represents creative restoration of a historic building. That effort to take a structure and enliven it for modern audiences earned Hanover its recent kudos from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The team behind the theatre was presented with a Preservation Honor Award at a special ceremony in Austin, Texas. We say team because it truly did take a village to transform the 106-year-old abandoned building into a lively venue for entertainment on Main Street.
Both the high school and theatre projects have had a palpable effect on the local economy and will pay future dividends. In the case of the high school, the local workforce has benefited from technically savvy workers who are prepared to drive innovation at businesses in the region. The theatre has done its part too, drawing in out-of-town visitors who come to our downtown not only for a show, but also for dinner and maybe some dessert, too.
It’s not often that Worcester — or any other mid-level city — ends up on a national stage. It’s remarkable that two building projects completed within the last four years have both received such recognition from national organizations. It’s easy to lose sight of the gains our city has made over recent years because of the woeful national economic news. But the good news is that we have engines right here in our city positioning us for a strong recovery.
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