What will happen to 158 Spring Street?

158 Spring Street will remain a school in the CPSD system. 

As I wrote in December 2024:

Q: I bet this is a plot by the City of Cambridge to redistrict and redevelop the East Cambridge area. Right?

A: In an email, David Murphy wrote: “There are no circumstances in which the building can be responsibly relinquished by the school department, no one from the city has suggested we should/could, and any suggestion that this is about any type of redevelopment plan is completely false.” 

We are pretty sure that translates to: “there are no plans like that and I’m sick of talking about this.”

Fast forward six months to June 23, 2025, Interim Superintendent David Murphy announced that Cambridge will invest approximately $10M into the building’s infrastructure and $7M into the grounds, and that the school will remain a school.

While these numbers may change, that’s the ballpark.

The goal is to complete work by the beginning of the FY 2026 - 2027, but Murphy also acknowledged that multiple factors are outside of his control. He suggested that it’s possible that work might be completed by FY 2027 - 2028.

And while yes, I did notice the disparity between the amount spent on the new Tobin Montessori/DVUS building – more than $200M – and the amount budgeted for the 158 Spring Street renovations – I’m not going to push back on that front. The sooner the building can be up and running and safely serving students again, the better for everyone.

What I would push back on is the optimistic framing of the initial timeline, the actual amount needed to fix necessary building functions – the HVAC system springs to mind – and the lack of announced process for follow-up community meetings regarding which school (or combination of schools) will next occupy 158 Spring Street.

Edited to add

An update re 158 Spring Street is available on the CPSD website, as is the 158 Spring Street Capital Improvement Project Community Meeting 1 presentation deck.