Summer Construction Work

Post date: Jun 15, 2015 4:38:50 PM

The summer of 2015 will be hectic as Nabholz subcontractors work to complete expanding the high school to serve grades 9-12, renovate the former Mid-High for use as the new Madison Middle School, and begin demolition work at Central for its large-scale renovation through August 2016.

At right is the exterior of the new south addition at BHS on June 15, 2015.

High School

The south addition is really starting to look like a school both inside and outside. One challenge is that the second-floor concrete slab in portions of the south addition is not level enough for tile to be laid. A leveling compound will be added and high areas of the slab ground down, at no cost to the district. Then the new vinyl composition tile floor can be laid and in turn any millwork (cabinetry) can be installed as well as new lockers in the corridors. The floors are currently projected to be completed by July 20, although the work will progress in waves with some floors completed much sooner than that.

The start of classes is currently scheduled for Thursday, August 13, so district personnel will be very busy in late July and early August getting the school ready.

The much smaller science wing addition on the north end has seen its share of delays, but work continues and at this time it is also slated to be ready in early August.

Madison at the former Mid-High

Renovations have begun at the former Mid-High, which began as Sooner High School back in 1967 and became the Mid-High in 1982. It is now the permanent new home for Madison Middle School.

Holes have been drilled in floors to allow for new heating and air conditioning in older classrooms at the site. Older lockers have been removed for the installation of new ones. Three upstairs rooms are undergoing renovations to become sixth grade physical science laboratories.

Separately funded by a grant from Phillips 66, five first floor classrooms are being renovated into STEM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Math) Innovation Labs. One suite of rooms will be the new home for the school's Gateway to Technology program, including an information technology lab, workroom, and fabrication room. Across the hall will be a new STEM information technology lab for more general usage with an adjoining science projects lab.

The dream of a commons for the site may be achieved by renovations of a shop area on the north side of the building.

Central

The staff and students of Central Middle School will be in the former Madison Middle School until August 2016 as the century-old Central building is thoroughly renovated.

Demolition work is beginning, with the ground floor of Central slated for major work to create a new secure entrance off Delaware into a new office suite. The majority of the ground floor, including both of the former gymnasia, will become larger spaces for Fine Arts with improved access. That floor will also connect to a new gymnasium being constructed on the south side of the building. The STEM grant from Phillips 66 is partially funding the renovation of a former shop area on the northeast end of the ground floor into a science projects lab and information technology lab.

The three upper floors at Central are also undergoing room-by-room renovations so that each floor will serve a different grade level, with two renovated science labs with a connecting stockroom in the northwest corner of each floor.

The highest level at Central, above the auditorium, is being renovated with help from the Phillips 66 STEM grant into a new home for the Gateway to Technology program, with a combination information technology/workroom and a separate fabrication room.

The north bulding at Central, built in 1956 and partially renovated by 1996, is being renovated to form a larger cafeteria.

Below is the emptied former cafeteria at the high school. This space is being remodeled over the summer into a new Innovation Lab for Science/Technology/Engineering/Math courses, funded by a grant from Phillips 66.