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Construction hums in Phoenix Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Charlie Thompson of Billy Thompson Floor Covering puts down tile in the Phoenix High School hallway where he was once a student in 1996-97. The new tiling is part of $16.2 million in renovations that have begun at the five Phoenix-Talent district schools. Schools receive improvements in safety, energy, class space By DAMIAN MANN PHOENIX - All five district schools are buzzing with construction work this summer as $16.2 million in bond money brings cleaner, safer and more energy-efficient campuses. During the summer, construction crews are taking care of projects that might interfere with student activities this fall such as carpeting, tiling and replacing ceilings at the gyms of Phoenix High School and Talent Middle School. Voters last year approved the bond money to modernize and upgrade the high school, middle school and three elementary schools. Altogether, some $200,000 to $300,000 worth of improvements should be finished before school starts at the 2,500-student district. By summer's end The following are projects scheduled for completion by the end of summer at the five schools in the Phoenix-Talent district: Phoenix High School - Replace carpeting with tile in corridors and common area; replace ceiling and roof of gymnasium. Talent Middle School - Replace ceiling and roof of gymnasium; install lines for fire hydrants; upgrade electrical power. Phoenix, Talent and Orchard Hill elementary schools - Install carpeting in media center, classrooms and hallways. Many of the projects will never be noticed by voters because they are taking place behind the scenes over the next year to improve the basic functions of the schools. Some of these projects include overhauling the air-conditioning and heating systems and improving the electrical power supply to schools. "We're doing things that will provide safety and security to the kids as well as energy conservation," said Interim Superintendent Ben Bergreen. Project Manager Bill Watson said the five schools will soon undergo an energy audit that will help make the facilities more efficient. Watson said the district already has determined areas that need improvement - such as windows, doors and lighting - but a detailed audit could discover ways of making the campuses even more efficient. Already the new white roof on the Phoenix high gym has cut the internal temperature considerably, Watson said. Some of the bigger and more visible projects will get underway during the school year, but Watson anticipates they will have little impact on students. Phoenix High will get a new choir room to replace the tiny, stuffy existing classroom. Tiered seating will be installed in the auditorium. Five new classrooms will be built at Talent Middle School and general repairs will be made to offices. Phoenix and Talent elementary schools will get new cafeterias. Four new classrooms will be built at Orchard Hill. Watson said additional classrooms are being designed to blend in with the existing architecture at the campuses. "We want to make sure it looks like the original," he said. Bergreen said the $16.2 million bond is a pared-down version of a district wish list that included $30 million worth of improvements. "Originally it was suggested we build a community swimming pool, but we just couldn't do it," he said. The last time voters approved a bond measure for the Phoenix-Talent School District, they assumed they would be getting a new $12.5 million high school. But a snafu over a school site led to canceling the project and raising the ire of voters. Bergreen said the current spending plan doesn't contain any lofty projects and the plan was carefully scrutinized by an independent committee before it went to the voters. School officials don't believe the work on the campuses will prove disruptive to students. "Kids find construction interesting," said Phoenix High Principal Bruce Rhodes. The district plans on wrapping up the projects by August 2002. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.