At the April 13 School Board meeting, Assistant Superintendent Jim Presot presented an update on the progress of the construction at the various district facilities. School Superintendent Gurka noted that “construction at both our elementary site and our high school site are continuing. School construction has been deemed an essential business. Hammond Construction has worked diligently with our contractors to put precautions in place of social distancing, hand washing stations, sanitizing stations and we continue to move forward with both our projects.”
Presot noted that construction continues at the High School and new Elementary School, but work is also taking place at the Middle School. He reiterated the information relative to COVID-19, and added that the Cuyahoga County Board of Health has recently visited both High School and Elementary School sites and deemed them safe. “At this point, we have not seen any slowdown of work in progress and both jobs are within their time lines and on budget.”
Middle School: The district is working with Hammond Construction and Then Design Architecture to obtain final pricing for some security upgrades that are scheduled to take place this summer. Two large heat pumps are being installed as part of the overall heat pump replacement project, which are essential for the Media Center. This summer, several exterior doors will be replaced, which will be performed by district employees.
Elementary School: The final structures have been installed. “The roofing projects continue, and as these are done, interior projects can get started,” said Presot. The kitchen and mechanical work is underway, completely enclosed and have cement floors, and heat. The roof and cement floors are completed in the first and second-grade section. “Interior walls are being built on the second floor and the outside walls are up and the brick veneer has actually been started on those sections,” said Presot. A large portion of the roof on the third and fourth-grade sections have been completed, as well as the cement flooring. Once that work in that section is completed, work will commence on the gym, cafeteria, and music areas, while the roofing is completed on the administration and pre-k/kindergarten section. They will then focus on interior cement work, which is expected to be completed by early to mid-June.
High School: Presot stated that “much progress has been done.” The final roofing is taking place in the vestibule area and metal trim throughout the building. Natural gas meters and electrical meters are fully operational. Sidewalk and other paving will begin around the new addition. The distributive antenna system for the safety forces is being installed. “We have finalized our TV software systems that will allow us to use remotely controlled units and sending out messaging throughout the building,” said Presot. Equipment is scheduled to be ordered for the broadcast tv studio. “The phone system is in process of being installed. Many of the AP devices/switches for the new section have been programmed and are being installed.” Painting is being completed on the interior of the second floor and the first floor is being prepared for painting. Many of the second-floor rooms have cabinets and once fully painted, the flooring will be installed. All bathrooms are being completed and the new kitchen has the freezer/refrigerator units, pizza oven and the fire suppression units installed. The flooring is complete and the serving equipment is awaiting arrival.
The district is in the process of getting the staff to be ready to move out of the 1976/1988 addition at the beginning of June. Hammond Construction will then take over this area for renovations. “We are still planning to have an auction in late-May for the existing furniture and equipment that is not going to be needed in the new addition.”
Presot did note that due to the current situation with school being cancelled through the end of the school year, some of the projects have actually been able to take place earlier. “Because of the shutdown, we have been able to jump on some of the projects a little bit earlier than we thought.”
By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer
