From today’s Boston Globe…
Boston’s proposal to combine Boston Arts Academy and the Upper Quincy School into a single building near Chinatown could go down as the most expensive public school project ever in Massachusetts, with initial estimates exceeding $261 million.
The price tag dwarfs that of the current record-holder, the 2-year-old Newton North High School, a nearly $200 million project that sparked a national debate over suburban excess.
Not a fair comparison? How much of that is land acquisition cost? Value of land near Chinatown must be astronomical. Also, will the current buildings of the two schools be surplus (if they are currently owned, not leased), and sold to reduce the net cost?
Los Angeles has us all beat- to Julia’s point (or part of it perhaps), it’s not an apples to apples comparison, most likely
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/los_angeles_unveils_new_578_mi.html