WWPS bond projects continue over summer

 

By Maria Allard

C & G Staff Writer

     When Briarwood Elementary School students return to class Aug. 25, they are sure to notice the changes that occurred over summer.

     Crews have worked over the summer months to renovate classrooms as part of a $47 million bond issue passed by Warren Woods Tower Public Schools taxpayers in September 2004. The bond projects are geared to support the curriculum and improve the learning environment.

     Skanska USA Building Inc., based in Southfield, is the construction company hired for the projects. Jamie Stottlemyer is project manager and Joe Parkinson is project superintendent. Both are with Skanska.

     Crews have painted the Briarwood classrooms and added new ceilings, new lighting and new ventilation systems that include air conditioning to allow the air to flow evenly throughout each classroom. Bond dollars do not include new classrooms desks or chairs, which have been placed in storage during the renovation process. Bond project dollars also will provide new bathrooms reconfigured to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act.

     “It’s really great to see so many people working hard every day to try to meet our deadlines,” Briarwood Principal Mary Tewksbury said.

     The Briarwood projects also include a technology upgrade, including computer terminals and television monitors in each classrooms, and a technology presentation center, adjacent to the computer lab. The rooms will each house 32 computers.

     The technology presentation center will give teachers a place to present lessons in a classroom setting. A large monitor will display lesson instructions and visuals, and the students will follow along on their center’s computers.   

     The technology upgrade will also provide for a new distance learning lab for educational opportunities beyond the classroom. Through modern technology and televisions, students will be able to visit other parts of the world to learn about nature, travel, animals and much more. 

     Because Briarwood’s gymnasium doubles as a cafeteria and assembly room, a new multipurpose room will be added. The room will be built behind the library. Two classrooms have been removed to make way for the multipurpose room, and two new classrooms — replacing the removed ones — will be built along the hallway that leads to the multipurpose room.

     Students and staff will use the multipurpose room for talent shows, assemblies, music programs and more. The current gym will be used as the cafeteria.

     The media center also will receive a new look. The roof will be torn off and a much higher roof will be constructed. Stottlemyer said glass block will be added, which is expected to provide natural light into the media center. 

     School officials are confident the classrooms will be ready when school begins Aug. 25. The additions and multi-purpose room, however, are not expected to ready for the first day of school.          

      Crews also have also been working at Warren Woods Tower High School this summer. The school will house a second gym, called the auxiliary, next to the current gym, with only a hallway separating the two. Both gyms will be used. A weight room and an inside concession stand is in the works.

     “The auxiliary gym is not designed for competition. It’s designed to provide students more space for practice,” district Superintendent Robert Livernois said. Bond dollars also will make way for the expansion of the girls locker room.

     Crews also are adding a new lobby to the gym complex. The lobby will have steel beams and a skylight and will be used for sporting events. Students will still use the main entrance. The student parking lot was moved further away from the school to make room for the lobby and auxiliary gym.

     “It’s very rewarding to see a project from the ground up,” Livernois said.

     Stottlemyer and Livernois predict the Briarwood and WWT projects will completed by early 2006. Projects are also planned for Warren Woods Middle School and Pinewood and Westwood elementary schools.

     You can reach Maria Allard at allard@candgnews.com