Sue Loughlin
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
A sign in front of Booker T. Washington High School reads: “A new beginning.”
The sign carries special meaning this year as students and teachers prepare for a new era in a new facility located on the campus of Terre Haute South Vigo High School.
Last week, contractors were painting, installing flooring and putting other finishing touches on the building, which must be ready for staff on Monday and students on Tuesday.
“We can’t believe, after looking at the plans and talking about this for 11⁄2 years, that it’s come to fruition,” said Karen Andrews, school principal. “This is just incredible. Everything has been done so creatively, so artistically and the craftsmanship is just unbelievable. It’s beautiful.”
Last September, the School Board agreed to relocate the alternative high school, which serves pregnant and parenting teens, to the South campus. The former building was 96 years old and had major infrastructure needs.
The new, one-story facility has about 17,000 square feet. The $2 million project is being funded through the Capital Projects budget, and Garmong Construction is the contractor.
“We’ve been in and out all summer watching them work,” Andrews said. “The kids are going to be excited once they walk in the door.”
For the students who will benefit, it’s affirmation “that people believe in them, and that they deserve a good educational experience, just like everyone else,” Andrews said.
The school has several classrooms for high school students as well as rooms dedicated to infants and young children, who will have a play area in a courtyard between the two schools.
The new facility has improved safety features that meet current code. Everything is on ground level, and rooms dedicated to young children will have exit doors to the outside courtyard, said Steve Arnold of MMS, project architect.
The school has bright colors, modern lighting, improved data capacity and a commons area where students will eat (with food brought in from the South cafeteria), although it also can be used for programs and as a gathering area.
The Washington students will be able to take classes at South, enabling them to earn Core 40 or Academic Honors diplomas.
The new Washington facility may be the most visible construction project this summer, but other facility improvements have been under way, including those that provide energy savings.
Four schools — Terre Town Elementary, Terre Haute North and South Vigo high schools as well as Washington High School — are benefiting from a $3.8 million contract with Energy Systems Group. The projects will be paid for through Capital Project funds.
At Terre Town, eight classrooms in the west wing/pod area formerly used an “open concept” with no walls to separate them have undergone significant changes. Those classrooms have now been enclosed with walls and doors, and the center “pod” has been converted into a special education classroom area with skylights.
The school no longer will need to use a portable classroom.
Terre Town, the district’s largest elementary school, also received a new air handling unit in the kindergarten wing.
Cinda Taylor, school principal, said that in the past, teachers might have limited some of their activities because they didn’t want to be too loud or interrupt other classes. “Having the walls, I think they’re going to feel more at ease and comfortable to do limitless activities because they won’t have that concern,” she said.
The school, which had about 670 students last year, also has a new computer lab in the media center with 30 new Dell computers. That is the school’s second computer lab.
Projects at North and South aren’t as visible, but they are just as important. Both schools received new, gas-fired boilers that will provide heat this winter. The former boilers were only about 50 percent efficient and nearing the end of their useful life, said Rick Long, assistant director of facilities. “We felt it was imperative to do it this summer.”
The new boilers are 96 to 98 percent efficient, he said. Each school has four boilers, and while only one or two might be used on a cool, fall day, all four might be necessary during a cold, winter day.
Both schools also received new ventilation systems for their pool areas as well as renovated lockerrooms with new flooring, fresh paint and new lockers. The two schools also received lighting retrofits that will reduce energy use.
Washington High School also is benefiting from the energy savings projects. Its heating/ventilation/cooling system ties into South’s, and it also has LED lighting, which is more energy efficient and lasts much longer than conventional fluorescent bulbs.
Those who drive by the Washington/South campus will notice a wind turbine off Davis Drive, which will provide some energy savings to the alternative school as well as an accompanying curriculum on renewable energy for use by both schools.
On Monday, contractors were busy at Washington finishing up the project, and boxes of school furniture lined the nearby hallway of Terre Haute South.
With the last-minute flurry of activity before the start of school, it may appear facilities won’t be ready, “Then all of a sudden kids walk in and everything is in its place and ready to go,” Superintendent Dan Tanoos said during a tour of construction sites. “It takes a team effort.”
Work also continues on a new medical clinic, which has a target opening of mid-September. Space at the General Services facilities, 3250 Maple Ave., has been converted into a clinic, which will be called the Vigo County School Corp. Wellness Center.
The renovation has been funded through a medical reserve fund, “part of a refund we’ve received from Anthem because we’re good stewards of our health program,” said John Orr, director of human resources. No general fund money was used.
The goal of the clinic is to cut health care costs.
Vigo County public school students return to the classroom Tuesday, the first day of the 2010-11 school year.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.
