Worcester, MA The new Doherty Memorial High School opened its doors to students, with Wayne J. Griffin Electric, Inc. (Griffin Electric) installing all electrical and telecommunications work on-site. This new, four-building school spans 425,000 s/f and replaces the former school, which was built in 1966 and was becoming outdated, overcrowded, and unsuitable for learning.

Featuring 102,000 s/f of classroom space, more than double that of the former school, Doherty Memorial surpasses energy-efficient standards and will meet requirements for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental (LEED) silver certification. The new facility has allowed the school to expand its offerings of vocational options to students. Construction craft labor, marketing and finance, as well as programming and web development are some of these new vocational options that students at Doherty will have access to.

The importance of building future generations of the skilled trades cannot be overstated. A leading area electrical subcontractor throughout New England and the Southeast for over 45 years, Griffin Electric has long been active with many local schools and organizations in order to promote construction and the apprenticeship pathway as a viable career option. The Griffin team is proud to be part of this project team and to help play a small part in exposing new audiences to options beyond the college route.

Griffin Electric installed power, lighting and lighting controls, a generator system, and a complete solar photovoltaic system on-site. Other responsibilities of the Griffin team included installing systems for access control, fire alarm, security, as well as closed-circuit television (CCTV) and audio / visual. Griffin Electric was able to leverage prefabricated in-wall electrical rough and overhead electrical rough to the projects’ benefit.

Other members of the project team included general contractor, Fontaine Bros., Inc. and Lamoureux Pagano Associates | Architects. The electrical engineer was ART Engineering Corp.