Thursday, October 1, 2026
With a major construction project scheduled to begin in April at the Lido complex, residents expressed concern over issues ranging from security on the site and the impact the work could have on students and nearby homes during the two-year facility renovation.
School officials presented an overview of the project at the March 8 Board of Education meeting, where they discussed details of construction work, scheduled to begin on April 2.
The infrastructure upgrades and renovations at the Lido complex — which includes the elementary and middle school — are part of a district-wide, $92.7 million school preservation plan funded by a bond approved by voters in 2009.
The work at the Lido complex includes $17 million earmarked for the middle school and $29.6 million at the elementary school. The funds include the work that was recently completed on the new Veterans Field.
The preservation plan is meant to address the district’s aging infrastructure, said Michael DeVito, the school district’s chief operating officer. The work at the 189,000 square-foot Lido complex — home to 882 middle school students and 436 elementary school students — is going to be completed in phases over two years, ending in 2013.
The major renovations include the construction of an extension for additional classrooms at the elementary school’s southern section, scheduled to begin on April 2 and to be completed in August. That work also includes the construction of a Pre-k wing to accommodate increased enrollment and relocated students from the Blackheath location, which will be torn down for new athletic fields at the high school. At the middle school, the addition of a new library and main office are also set to begin in April and be completed in May of next year. The addition of an auditorium at the middle school will be completed in August.
Both schools will be home to a new, state-of-the-art media center and library, and a new cafeteria. At the meeting, DeVito discussed how the project would impact students and residents.
