Sean C. Morgan
District 55 Schools Supt. Larry Horton believes the high school construction project should be completed on time.
Inside last week, crews were working on replacing lockers in the south hall, the old senior hall. A couple of rooms remained unfinished. Crews also were working on sidewalks and concrete in front of the school.
Paving and landscaping are probably a couple of weeks off, Supt. Horton said. The majority of the ?big work? is done.
?We?re hoping to start moving the boxes, the furniture, those kinds of things in by the first part of August,? Supt. Horton said. He hopes that by mid-August, the project will be complete, and high school personnel can move in with school starting on Sept. 7.
The project will definitely be finished in time for school to start, and the district will be ready, he said. An open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony will probably be planned for the end of August.
The bond oversight committee will tour the building at 5 p.m. on July 14 before a School Board meeting set for 6 p.m.
The project replaced portions of the high school, which accounted for the majority of maintenance costs in the district, including the administrative offices, the main gymnasium, counseling, attendance, the career center, two classrooms, the student store, the cafeteria the weight room and locker rooms.
The project includes space for the Linn-Benton Community College Sweet Home Center.
?Our kids will have access to the classrooms,? Supt. Horton said. It should provide opportunities for dual enrollment and college credit while attending high school. ?We want to see more and more of these types of courses offered.?
High school students could conceivably complete up to a year of college courses while enrolled in high school for a low cost, saving parents significant amounts of money, Supt. Horton said.
The project also includes a new library and media.
With the new library, space is opened up in the old one to be used as classrooms, netting the high school approximately four new classrooms.
Special education is spread out in three classrooms at the high school right now. Those will likely be concentrated into the old library, opening up three old classrooms for use in addition to three brand new classrooms.
The last major construction at the high school was in the late 1970s, Supt. Horton said. ?It?s going to have the feel of an entirely brand new high school.?
As a new member of the community just prior to the project, Supt. Horton said, ?it said a lot about the community.?
It was important to him as he looked at moving to Sweet Home to see the community takes care of its infrastructure. The new Police Department building and Fire Hall showed that commitment, then he heard how the Community Center was built through volunteer work, donations and grants.
?When people look here, they can say this community cares about its kids; it?s a growing community, it?s not a dying a community.? Supt. Horton said. That image is important if the community wants to attract jobs.
The work itself ?is simple but elegant,? Supt. Horton said. ?There is very little extravagance built in. We have a very beautiful school that we can be proud of as a community. I know the kids will be proud of it.
?I am extremely proud of the high school staff and students inasmuch as they went through what could be tough year because of the construction work.?
They worked through what could have been a difficult situation and turned it into a livable situation, Supt. Horton said. He praised staff and students for their flexibility.
The project is part of an $18.6 million bond, which included a variety of projects, like the Hawthorne Elementary expansion. Remaining projects include some electrical work, Americans with Disabilities Act improvements and roofing. The main projects remaining are lighting and heating projects in the elementary schools.
The bond should be complete by September 2005.