<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=26xLAm_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=26xLAm_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="450" ><figcaption>Architects showed the tour the inside of the new auditorium at Watertown High School. The balcony can be seen on the left side. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>While still a mesh of steel, concrete, and wood, visitors can get an idea of what the future home of Watertown’s high schoolers will look like when it opens in 2026. With construction of the new Watertown High School at the midpoint, the designers of the new school led a group of Watertown School and City officials around the four-level school building taking shape between Common and Columbia streets. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0i09Wd_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0i09Wd_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="533" ><figcaption>City Councilor President Mark Sideris, left, and Council Vice President Vincent Piccirilli stand outside the Watertown High School construction site. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>The team working on the high school welcomed members of the School Committee, City Council, the School Building Committee on Wednesday, as well as members of the School and City administration and a member of Watertown’s State House delegation. It has been a long time in the making, said Christy Murphy, project executive with Vertex, the owner’s project management firm who has worked on the project since 2019. “This is really exciting for a project that has been through a lot, started during COVID, and we haven’t had a lot of time together,” she said. “This feels very important to be walking through and seeing the progress of the construction. We are just under 50 percent completed, so it’s a big milestone.” <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=41eoS1_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=41eoS1_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="533" ><figcaption>The view from the media center in the new Watertown High School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>WHS Principal Joel Giacobozzi said he can see the potential of the new school. “We still have the same amazing teachers and kids, and the same amazing spirit,” he said. “This space feels like the kind of space the kids deserve.” One of the great features of the school will be the connection to the outside, through the large windows and natural light. He expects that to inspire students to learn. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2hMoTz_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2hMoTz_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="533" ><figcaption>Some of the classroom will have large windows looking out at the area surrounding Watertown High School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>Jim Jordan, principal at Ai3 Architects, said that at 4.3 acres, the WHS site is the smallest that the firm had worked with on a high school project. “Its very small for a high school,” he said. “The new footprint is 20 percent smaller than the old school but it a lot more efficiently used.” Running through the width of the new school the corridor has floor to ceiling glass at each end. Walking down the corridor, people will be able to see from Common Street to Columbia Street, Jordan said. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=39Q28W_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=39Q28W_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="533" ><figcaption>A side street off Columbia Street is visible at the end of the hallway running the width of the new Watertown High School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>Another corridor runs the length of the building on the side of the school facing the Phillips Building. This walkway has large openings on the top three floors and windows at the top to create a light filled atrium. Off the Columbia Street entrance sits the offices of the principal and other administrators, as well as two facilities that will be frequented by the public: the auditorium and the gymnasium. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=46nX8x_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=46nX8x_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="450" ><figcaption>Watertown officials look at the progress on what will be the gym at the new Watertown High School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>The new auditorium will seat about 480 people, and will have two levels of seating. Jordan said the seats will all feel close to the stage. “If you are familiar with the Wang Theater, it will have an intimate feel,” Jordan said. “It feels like you are close to the stage but seats close to 500 people.” <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1mT4WA_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1mT4WA_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="533" ><figcaption>Ai3 Architects’ Jim Jordan stands on the balcony of the auditorium at the new Watertown High School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>Behind the stage will be a black box theater. The two spaces will be separated by a sound dampening wall that can be raised, so that the two spaces can be both be used at once or combined into one big space, said Alexandra Sieving, the project architect with Ai3. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2qGwHZ_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2qGwHZ_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="533" ><figcaption>School Committee Chair Kendra Foley looks at a model of the new Watertown High School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>When designing the gymnasium, Watertown officials decided to create a gym even larger than what the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) will reimburse the City. “This gym is a monster. The MSBA says the gym should be 21,000 sq. ft. for a school of this size. This will be 31,000 sq. ft.,” Jordan said. “The bleachers can be fully extended without disrupting the full-size basketball court, and there is a full-sized court perpendicular on the other side of the gym.” <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=05ACZP_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=05ACZP_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="450" ><figcaption>A view of the new WHS gym from the walking track. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>The bleachers will seat 851 people when pulled out completely and 2,600 people can fit in the space when the bleachers are pushed back and folding chairs are put out for a graduation ceremony or other event. The building will also be air conditioned so it will be more comfortable in such occasions The gym will be two stories tall, and an indoor walking track with two to four lanes will be built on the second story. The track will push out of the building and create a covered overhang out side the Columbia Street entrance to give students a place to wait for a ride during inclement weather. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0A10nu_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0A10nu_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="533" ><figcaption>The tour checked out the area that will be the upper floor of the two-story media center. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>On the top two floors will be the media center (formerly known as the library). The space includes an interior staircase that follows the curve of a large round opening, and the media center has large glass windows overlooking the former church at the corner of Common and Mt. Auburn streets. The science and engineering classrooms will face the part of Common Street as it begins to head up the hill. They will be 1,440 sq. ft and have large windows. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4H4w9L_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4H4w9L_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="450" ><figcaption>This part of the structure of the new high school will be painted and remain exposed when construction is complete. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>The graphic art and photography classrooms will also have large windows to let in natural light. Other classrooms will not have an exterior wall, but will have windows looking onto an interior walkway that will have widows on the roof of the school. “All the interior rooms will have large window so that they get natural light,” Sieve said. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=07bUVa_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=07bUVa_0vkxG3Ol00" width="600" height="900" ><figcaption>The open interior hallway running the length of the new Watertown High School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>On the corner where Common Street curves, the school will have a staircase which will have glass covering the exterior, and a large map of Watertown and a big “W” covering the interior of the stairwell. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1ZwD9h_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1ZwD9h_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="533" ><figcaption>Looking out from what will be the large glassy stairway on the corner of Watertown High School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure>The lower level will have a large student common where WHS students can eat lunch inside, or outside. The outdoor area will have covered and uncovered sections to sit and have lunch. Nearby is the outdoor multi-use space that will give students a place for physical education classes outside without having to go to Victory Field. On the lower level will also be a garage with spaces for 134 spaces and a bicycle parking area, Jordan said. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=29udtT_0vkxG3Ol00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=29udtT_0vkxG3Ol00" width="800" height="533" ><figcaption>A rendering of what the student common will look like on the lower floor of the new Watertown High School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)</figcaption></figure></div></body>

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Take a Look Around the Half Completed New Watertown High School

While still a mesh of steel, concrete, and wood, visitors can get an idea of what the future home of Watertown’s high schoolers will look like when it opens in 2026. With construction of the new Watertown High School at the midpoint, the designers of the new school led a group of Watertown School and City officials around the four-level school building taking shape between Common and Columbia streets.