ELY – The construction timeline for the ISD 696 building project calls for the Industrial Arts building to be emptied of the preschool, tech students, learning materials and machinery within a matter of weeks.
Superintendent Erik Erie told school board members Monday night that recent meetings and walk-through tours with the project architects and construction managers revealed the challenges ahead for school administrators.
To facilitate the continuing education of 500-plus students in the school buildings, while commencing on the $20 million renovation project, work will begin in earnest on Thursday, April 1 by vacating the Industrial Arts building to prepare for asbestos removal.
The 16-month construction window must be strictly adhered to for the project to be completed by the first day of class of the 2021-22 school year. For two summer building seasons of about 65 days each, most students and staff will be off campus, but for the 2020-21 school year, classes will be in session in the midst of a construction zone.
Erie said the new timeline for vacating the Industrial Arts building came to light just last week as the construction manager, Kraus-Anderson, considered the time required for asbestos and hazardous material abatement that must be completed after the building is emptied for the safety of students and staff.
“That’s what led up to this new date, but it did kind of smack us right in the forehead,” Erie said “We are talking about moving out the band department, all salvageable industrial arts equipment and classes, and the Happy Days preschool. We need to find alternative spaces because education and teaching will not stop.”
Upon learning the new information, school administrators immediately sent a construction project update letter to teachers and staff.
School district parent and former school board member James Pointer criticized the administration Monday night for sending out a “vague” statement about the impending education transition to accommodate the construction. He repeated rumors and speculation that included “band moving to the auditorium, industrial tech moving to a bus garage, and Happy Days (preschool) moving off campus” because of space limitations.
“It has been a year since we have been in this pandemic. Our band and industrial arts students, since last spring, they basically didn’t get any (education). Happy Days essentially closed down. It is short-sighted now to basically kick them out for two whole months of their classes and put them in these weird places. There should still be a way to make the timeline work without having to boot all these kids out,” he said.
Pointer went on to criticize any changes to the Happy Days preschool arrangement. “It is a wonderful feeder system for the Kindergarten class, and if they lose out on two months of their education it is going to affect the Ely school because our Kindergarten teachers will have to work harder next fall,” he said.
He called for the school board to reconsider the April 1 deadline.
“Let the kids stay in their classrooms,” Pointer said. “Find a way to work around this. Maybe have the contractors work double shifts. To be kicking the kids out and put them in a bus garage or other location is unsafe. We need to be thinking about our kids, and not just the project at this point.”
Erie said the recent meetings with construction managers gave school administrators some flexibility in juggling educational needs with work zones.
“They hope to have all the Washington building classroom renovation work and the campus’s new early childhood center, to be relocated to the existing elementary school media center area, ready by this fall,” he said.
Renovations this summer to all the Washington classrooms include installing flooring, ceiling, lighting, doors, new windows, and painting, Erie said.
The hazardous material abatement schedule is critical at the start of the construction timeline, Erie stressed, because no demolition can start until that step is competed.
The project timeline indicated that demolition is on schedule to start on May 17 for the Industrial Arts building, swimming pool and boys locker room area in the Memorial building, and the former boiler building.
“Kraus-Anderson has 16 months to complete this project,” Erie said. “They have two summers and then during the school year. This is much different from building a new building on a vacant lot somewhere. Vacating the Industrial Arts building by April 1 came as a shocker to all of us.”
He also stressed that the asbestos abatement procedures are mostly unknown until the work starts. “They have taken some samples and have an idea what to expect; they really won’t know until they get in there,” he said. “Asbestos abatement needed in the Washington and Memorial buildings will begin after school ends in June. It looks like they will be doing abatement while demolition in other areas.”
It could take up to three weeks to move materials and equipment out of the Industrial Arts building.
“We will do everything we have to get all salvageable items out of there in three weeks,” Erie said. “This really backs things up.” He assured school board members that the school calendar will not be altered in light of the new construction timeline.
Megan Anderson, 6-12 principal, said the staff is considering a variety of options for moving classes for the rest of the school year.
“We are looking at moving some industrial arts classes into the choir room and finishing up the year with electronics (curriculum). The shop students should be able to finish up their Adirondack chairs in the next three weeks,” she said.
Band classes could move into another Memorial building classroom for the rest of the year, according to Anderson.
“It has been unfortunate this year that those students didn’t have a band year with COVID,” she said. All music instruments are already in storage.
Erie said ISD 696 is in continuing talks with ISD 2142 to collaborate with Industrial Arts and Band classes. “We are exploring all options,” he said. “We still need to nail down where those classes will be next fall.”
Erie added that the Memorial building swimming pool area will be renovated this summer and could first be used as a temporary learning space during construction before being converted into a fitness area.
“That could be a possibility for band or some other teaching area,” he said. “That is an area they are committed to getting ready this summer.
Stretching out the timeline, Erie said that in the summer of 2022 the renovation of all the Memorial building classrooms will take place, along with new driveways and parking surfaces as well as the completion of the new commons/gym addition.
“Also at that time, they will go back to the Washington building hallways and finish that project,” he said.
“They will be working and building around us and we will be teaching around them,” Erie said. “It is going to be messy and people are going to have to make some sacrifices. There has been a lot of angst among the administration and teachers. Stay tuned for another project update on March 22.”