Above: Danvers Smith Elementary School by Ed Wonsek Photography
Ivan G. Smith Elementary School in Danvers, MA
The Town of Danvers, MA is celebrating the recently completed construction of the new $52 million Ivan G. Smith Elementary School Project where PMA provides owner’s project management services. Adding to this celebration is the Project’s unanticipated role in the education of students over a thousand miles away in Haiti.
Above: Danvers Smith Elementary School by Ed Wonsek Photography
When it became clear that a significant amount of surplus furniture from the original school building was not needed to furnish the new facility, the PMA team worked with the Danvers School Board to find the perfect solution for Danvers’s surplus furniture: IRN: The Reuse Network (IRN), one of the largest surplus recycling programs in the United States.
A total of 1,103 pieces of Danvers school furniture weighing 42,379 pounds was shipped to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. These items included hundreds of chairs, desks, and tables, as well as many cabinets, bookcases, file cabinets, stools, carts, and other school furnishings.
Above: Students in Haiti with donated furniture; photo from IRN’s Facebook Page
Veteran’s Memorial School in Saugus, MA
PMA is also providing owner’s project management services for the Town of Saugus, MA K-12 School Master Plan. One major project under this Master Plan is the Saugus Veteran’s Memorial Elementary School Renovation Project. Having recently achieved substantial completion, this project also leveraged the services of IRN.
PMA worked with the Saugus Facilities Department to donate their surplus school furniture to Georgetown, Guyana. A total of 1,549 items weighing 42,457 pounds was donated, much of which included chairs and desks. Additional donated items included tables, bookcases, filing cabinets, toys, and cabinets.
PMA’s Commitment to “People First”
One of PMA’s Core Values is “People First.” While we focus on this value daily in making sure our employees, clients, and peer firms feel a sense of mutual trust, respect, and appreciation, we also have committed to extending this goal into the global community. By making these undertakings a priority, the PMA team leverages our projects as an opportunity to touch upon the lives of diverse communities around the globe. We are proud to help support the IRN Network as well as other similar nonprofit groups.