Fay School Adds High-Tech Lab
Southborough Day & Boarding School Uses $45 Million Tax-Exempt Bond from MassDevelopment to Construct New Center for Creativity & Design Offering High-Tech Design, Fabrication Lab Space
October 12, 2021
Matthew Mogavero, 857-248-0868
mmogavero@massdevelopment.com
Erin Sullivan, Fay School, 508-490-8219
ESullivan@fayschool.org
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| Interior rendering of Fay School's Center for Creativity and Design, courtesy of the school. |
SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass. – MassDevelopment has issued a $45,025,000 tax-exempt bond on behalf of Fay School, Inc., a private day and boarding school in Southborough for students in kindergarten through grade nine, which will use a portion of bond proceeds to renovate existing space in its Root Academic Building to build a new Center for Creativity and Design. The center will offer high-tech design and fabrication lab space for students. TD Bank purchased the bond, which will also be used to refinance previously issued debt.
“More and more schools are moving to outfit creative and technological spaces where students can explore interests in manufacturing and high-tech creative sectors,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, who serves as chair of MassDevelopment’s Board of Directors. “The Baker-Polito Administration is pleased that MassDevelopment is able to offer low-cost options to finance these projects and provide students with state-of-the-art learning equipment.”
“This tax-exempt financing will help the Fay School stay competitive with a new high-tech design space that will ensure students are better prepared for future academic and professional opportunities,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera. “Our educational institutions are a major reason why Massachusetts remains a national leader in innovation, and MassDevelopment is proud to lend a helping hand to those looking to modernize infrastructure and enhance learning opportunities for students.”
Founded in 1866 by Eliza Burnett Fay and Harriet Burnett, Fay School is the oldest junior day and boarding school in the United States with a mission to provide students with the foundation for a meaningful life. Located on a 66-acre campus in Southborough, Fay School currently enrolls a total of 475 students, including 150 boarding students, who hail from more than 20 countries. Fay School employs 65 faculty members and offers 20 competitive athletic programs and 10 intramural athletic options.
In 2008, MassDevelopment issued a $43 million tax-exempt bond to help the Fay School undertake several major campus improvements, which included constructing two 15,000-square-foot, two-story dormitories, a 7,000-square-foot maintenance building, a 1,500-square-foot waste water treatment facility, and a new primary school building and athletic facilities; installing a 200-kilowatt emergency generator; and renovating a 6,000-square-foot wellness center.
“We’re delighted to partner once again with MassDevelopment for this exciting initiative,” said Fay School Head of School Rob Gustavson. “The Center for Creativity and Design will serve as the new home for our Creativity and Design curriculum and will be a space where all of our students from Kindergarten through ninth grade can develop design thinking and creative problem solving skills in a state-of-the-art setting.”
MassDevelopment, the state’s development finance agency and land bank, works with businesses, nonprofits, banks, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2021, MassDevelopment financed or managed 416 projects generating investment of more than $1.86 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are estimated to create or support 6,578 jobs and build or preserve 1,909 housing units.
