Sean C. Morgan
School District 55 maintenance crews are working through a long list of projects this summer.
Workers won’t get to everything that needs doing, but district maintenance workers are running down the list to get priorities complete before classes start and make working in and around school buildings more difficult.
“Summer’s when you can get in and fix buildings without disruptions,” said Dave Goetz, maintenance superintendent. Many projects are placed on hold until summer to avoid disrupting classroom activities.
Topping the list is placement of a new modular building at Holley School.
The School District purchased the building from Banks School District for a dollar, Goetz said. It will cost a little more than $12,000 to move and site the structure.
Bent Level Construction will dismantle the modular building for transport the last day of the month. Bennett Truck Transport will take it to Holley School, where Bent Level will set the structure in the back parking lot the first week of August.
It will open onto the playground and will provide needed room for small-group instruction and storage, Goetz said.
The district has several roofing projects this summer.
“The main concern is the Junior High main hall roof, which has been leaking for some time,” Goetz said. That will cost about $20,000. The crew is also taking apart walls with dry rot.
The high school main gym is giving the maintenance crews fits too, with problems in a wall and roof vents, Goetz said. The gym is no longer under warranty, but the contractor that built it will take care of the problems if they are caused by bad worksmanship.
The high school also has a leak in the counselor’s office, Goetz said, and the district will complete as much roofing repair as it can at the Hawthorne School main building with its own staff.
Asphalt projects include repairs to the driveway and parking lot between the high school auto and wood shops and the driveway south of the science building on the back side of the school.
Oak Heights needs a new drainage system and asphalt in the back, Goetz said. Along the edge of the property, drainage problems have caused the asphalt to bubble up.
The chance of finishing that project this summer is low, Goetz said, based on available manpower.
Maintenance crews have completed numerous smaller projects already in all of the district’s buildings, Goetz said, and several others are under way.