Ava Seccuro staff writer
As the 2018-2019 instructional school year wraps up, construction workers will be staying on campus in the months of June and July to work on renovating the current buildings under construction, including the Salter Theater.
In addition to the continuation of construction on buildings B1 and B2, which are located behind the tennis courts and the lacrosse field, the Salter Theater and the Peters Auditorium will undergo interior demolition and refurbishment in June. Implementation of the high school security camera installation, which amasses a total of 115 cameras, will begin in mid June as well, in all buildings on campus, including those under construction. And in the future, the progressing oil well project will be finished in the summer of 2020.
“We have several projects going on this summer and they’re all of the same importance and critical nature. Starting with the high school, the B1, B2 modernization is continuing. We’re in the interior framing stage, exterior brick restoration, roof replacements, and electrical, mechanical and plumbing [installment],” Executive Bond Program Manager Jeff Pylman said. “We’ll also be removing the south bridge that connects the main building, building A, to the B1 building in the beginning of June.”
Continuation of construction in the fall of the 2019 instructional period will lead to, according to Principal Mark Mead, a large “difference” in the progression of the Salter Theater and Peters Auditorium. Although construction may potentially disrupt daily school proceedings, he is confident that it will not cause a major disturbance.
“We will see the biggest difference in B3 and B4/Performing Arts [buildings]. We will get through it as always,” Mead said.
Pylman assures that all programs occupying the performing arts buildings under construction will be relocated elsewhere by June, prior to the seven-to-eight week process of B3 and B4 modernization.
“We’re mobilizing to begin the interior demolition and abatement of buildings B3 and B4. Most people know those as the Peters and Salter buildings,” Pylman said. “Currently, we should be actively working inside B3 by about June 10, and B4, the Salter portion of the building, in mid to late June; because first we have to move out the furniture, fixtures, equipment and instructional materials from those existing classrooms into the other vacant rooms elsewhere on the campus. So, that’s a third project. We call that the high school summer moving project. We should have everything moved by about the third week of June.”
As the facilities department has a limited amount of time to work on both the high school construction and the reconfiguration modernization, Pylman claims that the biggest concern for the department is time.
“There’s been a lot of planning for these projects: the large modernization projects as well as the smaller summer projects,” Pylman said. “The one overriding concern during summer work is always the duration. Our target work window is from June 1 through July 31 at 61 calendar days. We’re always trying to be as optimistic as possible as to what we can accomplish in those 61 days. The main issue is managing the allowable time or work window while coordinating with ongoing summer programs from the summer camps, sports camps [and the] summer school programs simultaneously.”
Additionally, summer school programs and summer camps will continue to operate under liaison with the high school; therefore, another concern for the facilities department is “noise coordination.” However, because construction projects will be closed off in their own respective areas, they will not interfere with traffic surrounding the influx of people taking summer programs.
“The B1, B2 project, the B3, B4 project and the oil well project will continue in the fall instructional semester. The coordination on noisy activity will be similar [to what] we’ve been doing with B1 [and] B2. We’re scheduling noisy activities around test days and other pertinent days. We’re working with Mark Mead’s office,” Pylman said. “[We’re] continuing to do a lot more coordination; obviously a larger overall construction project now encompasses four buildings as opposed to two, so the main issue is noise coordination. I think we have traffic and parking all under control because everything is staying within the fenced compound of the construction site.”
Due to construction, Mead, along with the facilities department, will restrict use of the intermittent housing (bungalows) and the main building for summer school classes.
“[There will be] no ‘village’ and minimal use of [the] Main Building. Almost all classes will be in STC,” Mead said. “I don’t have any fears. We have placed students far from any potential danger and expect a smooth summer program.”