Middlesex School says its new Curtis Center is finished and ready for student use on the school’s Concord campus. The two-story, 106,000-square-foot facility brings athletic, fitness, and student gathering spaces together, including courts, a turf practice area, an indoor track, locker rooms, and places to study.
Erland Construction completed the project in collaboration with Rimkus and CBT Architects, according to Connect CRE. Middlesex School also confirmed the milestone, saying it was “thrilled to have completed construction on the Curtis Center.”
What's Inside the New Field House
The school says the field house includes two courts, a turf field, an indoor track, a fitness center, locker rooms, and areas for students to study and gather. High-Profile Monthly reports that the courts can accommodate basketball and volleyball, the track is elevated, and the lower level includes parking for 72 vehicles.
The Curtis Center is named for Middlesex alumnus James F. “Curt” Curtis III, a member of the class of 1962, and his family, the school notes. High-Profile Monthly's report on the completed project describes the structure as “The new 2-story, 106,000sf facility,” and states that the building “is now open.”
From Topping-Off to Opening
Project reports describe a timeline that stretched from interior work to completion. An earlier topping-off report said construction was on track for spring 2026 and described the building as LEED Silver-certified. A later report on the completed project said it was expected to achieve LEED Silver certification, so the available accounts differ on its final certification status.
A Bigger Building Than First Announced
The completed field house is larger than the version described when the project’s financing was announced. MassDevelopment said it issued a $43.68 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of Middlesex School. Its announcement described plans for an approximately 80,000-square-foot field house, compared with the 106,000-square-foot figure cited by the school and High-Profile Monthly for the completed facility.
That same bond announcement said proceeds would also go toward resurfacing and restoring two turf fields along with other capital improvements across the Concord campus. The original field-house concept described in the MassDevelopment announcement called for multi-purpose practice courts, an elevated indoor track, a fitness center, spaces for meeting, wellness, and physical rehabilitation, locker rooms, and covered parking.
Town Review and a New England Comparison
The project also went through a local review process. September 17, 2024, minutes from the Concord Planning Board record a recommendation to the Zoning Board of Appeals on Middlesex School’s athletics practice facility, including a requested height waiver to 72 feet, 9 inches at 1400 Lowell Road. For comparison, Perkins&Will lists Phillips Academy Andover’s Snyder Center as a 98,000-square-foot athletics facility completed in 2018. It is an earlier example at a different independent school and in a different town.
School and Builder Praise the New Space
Middlesex Head of School Bessie Speers said the field house “creates space for students to train, and connect in ways that simply weren't possible before.” Erland academic group manager Ben McConchie said the facility would be in “constant use” and anticipated that it would become central to campus life.
