$375 million high school is in the works for Waltham, Mass.

A $375 million high school is in the works in Waltham, Mass.

Waltham Pitch reports that the new Waltham High School is slated to be about 414,854 square feet and serve 1,830 students when it opens in 2024.

The existing high school building is 449,700 square feet and was constructed in 1968; additions were built in 1998 and 2002.

The project to build the high school — one of the most expensive in Massachusetts — has been more than five years and in the making and fraught with controversy.

For years, administrators have cited the need to update the high school's deteriorating building to accommodate increased enrollment.

In 2019, the Waltham City Council approved an agreement to acquire the 43-acre site for the new high school by eminent domain. The city paid $29 million for property owned by the Stigmatine Fathers and Brothers religious order.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority agreed to provide $118 million for the project.

The school system held ceremonial groundbreaking for the school in the fall.

As part of the construction project, workers will need to carry out significant blasting of rock on the site.

The architect is SMMA Architects and the builder is Consigli Construction. The project manager is Left Field.