by Kate Clark
What’s Happened Since the Election?
After the bond was passed, the school board has been busy putting the necessary pieces together, in particular contractors and other personnel, in preparation of construction of the new high school. After a thorough review process, the board selected The Blythe Group, a team of architects from Grand Junction. Also hired was Jeff Chamberlain, from RLH Engineering, as Owner’s Representative, a role mandated by the BEST guidelines. Based in Windsor, CO, RLH provides facility planning, project management and environmental services to a variety of clients including schools, hospitals, corporate and private owners. Chamberlain will acts as the school board’s representative, making certain that the architects, contractors, and subcontractors are following the directives of the district (and listening to administrators, teachers, students, and community members). The construction manager/general contractor team is comprised of Diesslin Structures Inc. of Salida and partner company Haselden Construction of Centennial. Last but not least, a Design Advisory Group (DAG) was appointed to act as a brainstorming group, defining the needs of the district and community members as well as keeping on the lookout for for potential problems with the project. The members of this board are Daryl Webb, Superintendent, Tami Thompson, SHS principal, Rusty Granzella, Board of Education, Jim Coscarella, Director of Athletics, Walt Sneddon, Maintenance,community member-at-large Bob Grether and four teachers: Janine Frazee, Sean Simpson, Maria Wilcox, and me, Kate Clark.
How did we get to this drawing from the drawings that helped pass the bond election?
The drawings used in the bond campaign were essentially conceptual draft drawings, meant to give the School board and community members an idea of what the school could look like. These original drawings are correct in that they demonstrate the number of square feet the building will cover, and the major elements of the building: classrooms, offices, gyms, auditorium, and so on.
The drawings will continue to function as rough drafts until specifics are worked out. There’s a lot to info to assemble and consider when designing a new school including the following: surveys of the property, establishing which parts of the property may have to be designated for run-off water storage, ensuring the new high school track meets CHSSA regulations and figuring out, with city input, where parking lots and driveways will be located.
Where are we now?
The new school, track and athletics field will be in roughly the same place as pictured in the drawings made public Jan. 20. In the past month, members of the high school staff, including technology, library, cafeteria, building and grounds personnel, administrators, administrative assistants, and teachers have met with members of the architectural team to discuss where rooms and services should be located with respect to each other. It was decided early on, for example, that the main office and common area should be at the main entrance for safety and convenience. The drawings are still draft diagrams, and the room and department locations will likely change again before drawings are finalized.
As far as the actual construction process, Chamberlain and DAG members will have a better idea of how long the district will have use of the Field House and wrestling room when new diagrams are presented Feb. 8. The goal is to keep most of the field house operational until the end of the 2011-2012 winter sports season. Webb and school board members have asked for asbestos abatement, among other things, to begin this summer on the Kesner building.
Community and user group input meetings are scheduled for Tuesday of every other week throughout the design process. The next community open house is scheduled for Feb 9, 11 am to 3 pm and 5 pm to 7 pm.
For more information, and larger drawing images, please go to EducationSalida.com, a community-built site designed to enable people to track the process
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