LOWELL — Now begins the hard and expensive part. That was the message from the construction team that updated the School Building Committee during its October meeting on the nearly $400 million Lowell High School reconstruction and renovation project.

“The 1922 building presented a lot of challenges once the demolition took place,” said Skanska project manager Jim Dowd, referring to the date the structure was built. “We knew there would be unforeseen issues, but there were more unforeseen issues than we anticipated.”

Those problems included what Dowd described as a “considerable” amount of asbestos.

As a result, more than $400,000 in increased costs were deducted from the city’s construction bill, and the opening of the renovated auditorium was pushed back from June 2025 to early 2026.

Suffolk Construction tore down ceilings and opened up walls during a pre-construction assessment of the risk of asbestos contamination in 2019, but Dowd said the hazardous material was found in “unique” places, such as sound panels in auditorium ceilings mechanics. and the acoustic sound panels in the hall.

“These were really strange,” he said, “and they don’t exist in the other half of the 1922 building.”

Asbestos is a mineral fiber found in rock and soil. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website, because of its fiber strength and heat resistance, asbestos has been used in a wide range of building materials, such as roofing shingles, ceiling and floor tiles, cement products, insulation and as a casing material around pipes.

Certain uses of asbestos were banned in the 1970s, and Massachusetts has strict regulatory requirements to protect school children and school employees from exposure to asbestos.

“During the breaks, we’ll take a hard look,” Dowd said. “If there’s something that hasn’t been tested that needs to be tested, we’ll do it.”

He assured the committee that the site was strictly controlled during remediation to mitigate contamination. Exposure to asbestos increases the risk of developing lung disease.

“Everything is sealed and all work is overseen by a third-party hygienist,” Dowd said. “They seal everything and inspect it before it even touches the asbestos. Then when they come in and after they remove the asbestos, under the insulation, then they clean everything, they do air tests, a thorough hygienist comes in and tests before they can take any insulation down. There are never any contaminants in the air.”

The reconstruction and renovation project began in 2020 with the demolition of Phase 1 of the physician offices at 75 Arcand Drive, now the site of the Riddick Athletic Center, which opened in August 2022.

Phase 2 began with the demolition of the old Riddick Field House. In its place, the five-story Freshman Academy was built. The building anchors the corner of Arcand Drive and Father Morissette Boulevard and adjoins the newly constructed three-story so-called D building formed from the demolition of the rear end of the 1980s building.

Phase 3 is the renovation of the 1980s wing of the building, which faces Father Morissette Boulevard and runs parallel to the Merrimack Canal. The building was built to accommodate the growing student population. The second half of phase 3 is the refurbishment of the Irish Cyrus Auditorium across the canal on Kirk Street.

Phase 4 is the renovation of the rear or south end of the 1922 building and the 1893 Coburn Hall building.

The first two phases were simple reconstruction projects, while phases 3 and 4 are more complicated renovation projects. Construction on the campus is scheduled to be completed by August 2026.

To address the auditorium issues, Dowd said Suffolk will split that construction into a separate program.

“Auditoriums are the most complicated rooms assembled in any school,” Dowd told the committee. “All the rigging equipment, all those subcontractors. We will use a significant amount of the contingency.”

A construction contingency is money set aside to pay for change orders from new applications or unforeseen construction requirements, and $21.2 million was included in the general budget figures. Dowd said nearly $9 million has been used and another $3 million is under review.

“We’ve had 26 change orders to date,” he said. “Which puts us in the area with over $9 million left. There is enough money in the budget that they predict that we will finish with the remaining funds. We’re heading in the right direction.”

The School Building Committee meets again on Thursday, December 19 at 6 pm in the Mayor’s Reception Room on the second floor of City Hall, 375 Merrimack St.