Sean C. Morgan
“We’re on time and on budget and looking forward to completion in August,” School District 55 Business Manager Kevin Strong said of the Sweet Home High School construction project.
Strong contacted architect Reid Anderson Friday for an update on the project.
Right now, the project is in the sheet-rocking stage, Strong said. Workers are also busy on the west parking area.
District officials are busy talking about furnishing the building, particularly the cafeteria and commons area. The district recently won a $138,000 grant to pay for furniture for the new building.
The $7 million high school project included the demolition of much of the old high school. It includes four new classrooms and the replacement of two along with a new library, cafeteria, administrative offices, counseling offices and a commons.
Linn-Benton Community College spent about $500,000 for an addition to the building to house its Sweet Home Center. The Sweet Home Center will be connected directly to the high school counseling offices.
The project is part of $18.6 million in bond projects approved by voters three years ago.
“It looks great,” Strong said. “I think the community will be very pleased with the value we’re getting on the bond project.”
The project might even be a little ahead of schedule, Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Steve Emmert said. The contractor, John Hyland Construction, has been great to work with.
“The students have been good at just carrying on with school and not allowing the noise to distract them much,” Emmert said. The seniors struggled a little early on in the project. Emmert thought they felt a little displaced because the senior hall was among the demolished portions of the high school and they would not be around next year when the new building opens for school.
The school has had to deal with a litter problem this year because students have not really had anywhere to go, Emmert said. That should change next year when they have the commons and cafeteria open. Students will not be allowed to eat their lunches in the halls. Rather, they will need to eat in the cafeteria or commons or go off campus.
The construction workers have been “very helpful for us,” Emmert said. There have been times where a staff member needed a ladder to change a light bulb, for example, and a worker took care of it for the staff member.
“We’re really going to miss them,” Emmert said.
Emmert is looking forward to using the new building. He believes it is more open inside, and the layout is more conducive to “kids meeting kids…. We’re just excited and ready to move in.”
Emmert wants to organize a tour for teachers soon.
“Our teachers have been very flexible,” Emmert said, but not having seen how the inside of the new building is shaping up, it’s “hard for them to get as excited.”