Sean C. Morgan
Hawthorne Elementary School has some 70 new faces this year, but the biggest of them belongs to the school itself.
Sweet Home School District completed a sweeping facelift and other improvements just in time for school to start on Sept. 4. Gerding Construction completed a school-wide seismic upgrade while district maintenance staff members remodeled the entrance and office.
“It exceeded my expectations,” said Supt. Tom Yahraes. “In meeting with the staff eight months ago, the staff talked about how providing natural light was important for the learning environment.”
Mission accomplished.
“Through the seismic grant, we were really able to do that,” Yahraes said. The project replaced windows throughout the main building, allowing better natural light into the structure. The previous windows were more prone to shattering during an earthquake.
The seismic upgrade was funded by a $1.5 million grant from the state government. It is one of four similar grants awarded to the district in recent years. The first resulted in seismic upgrades to the Sweet Home High School auditorium.
The district will use the third and fourth grants to complete seismic upgrades to Foster Elementary and Holley Elementary schools next summer.
In addition to the seismic upgrades, the district reconfigured the school office using funds from a voter-approved $4 million bond levy, which was matched with another $4 million grant by the state government.
That’s $10 million in projects without increasing property tax rates, Yahraes said.
The bond levy essentially extended the term of a 2001 levy the district is paying now. The term of that levy had been shortened thanks to refinancing. The $4 million bond approved in 2016 extends the term of bonds in the district back to about the original length of the 2001 bond.
District maintenance staff handled that portion of the project while Gerding Construction completed the seismic upgrades.
The seismic upgrades included a facelift, with new windows replacing block glass, which is particularly susceptible to shattering in an earthquake.
The windows were replaced all the way around the school, said Waylon Lundin of Gerding Construction. Gerding also installed new shear walls.
It involved replacement of 80 percent of the siding, said Mark Speelman of Gerding Construction. The company lifted off the entire roof to attach plywood to the new framing.
“It went well, nice and smooth,” Lundin said.
While Gerding was busy, the School District executed its plan for the office and entrance, Speelman said.
“A very nice project with this group of people,” said Erik Triebes of Gerding Construction. “You usually don’t see districts that have the capacity to do projects like this.”
Hawthorne’s new entrance features wood trim and new lettering around the door. New glass doors provide access to the school, while a set of interior glass doors provide a secure access to classrooms. Another door to the right provides access to the office, through which visitors will normally have access to the rest of the school after checking in.
“It’s more spacious,” said Principal Barbi Riggs, noting that secretaries can now talk to students and parents separately. In the past, visitors to the office had a much smaller space to talk to secretaries.
“It was real congested. It was real busy. Now it’s just more professional and functional.
“We have natural light coming in through the new windows. We are extremely proud of the new building. We know that a lot of work went into making sure our building is safe for our students, our staff and our families.”
Riggs’ office moved from a closed room in the the interior of the building to the exterior wall, where new windows provide clear vision outside and through the office and vestibule.
“I’m thrilled with the final product,” she said.
It’s a work in progress though, she said. The school doesn’t have a lot of art up in the office yet, and echoes still bounce off the walls.
“I like seeing the students coming in,” Riggs said. “I like greeting the students. I loved coming to work before.”
But this has created “a bigger spring” in her step, she said.
“Through working with Gerding and our own facilities crew, we were able to do the projects at once,” Yahraes said, improving safety and functionality while making the building more welcoming.
Up next are the seismic upgrades at Foster and Holley and the primary bond project, remodeling Sweet Home Junior High School.
The district is aggressively pursuing a seismic grant for Oak Heights Elementary School as well, Yahraes said. It has applied in the past, but the state did not award a grant for that school.
Yahraes said he was “impressed” with the amount of the work district facilities crew members were able to accomplish at Hawthorne.
“The Hawthorne project sets the bar and the stage for our other projects in the pipeline.”