Tuesday, March 19, 2024

High, elementary school construction on schedule

Posted

Construction of Cascade High School and Alpine Lakes Elementary School is progressing well, according School District Construction Liaison John Henri. 

The high school is being constructed in several phases, by Lydig Construction. 

“The first phase is the academic wing, where you can now see the foundation, and the two gyms, auxiliary and main. Those gyms are under construction right now,” Henri said. “The academic wing, the slabs are poured, the underground utilities are done. The stage within phase one, we’ve demoed the old gym floor. That used to be a wood structure. We’ve taken that out and filled it with rock and put a slab in there, so now it’s a slab on grade.”

Asbestos has been stripped from the old gym, along with the popcorn surface on the roof, which you typically see in old houses. Currently, the duct work is being demoed, along with the boys’ and girls’ locker rooms. 

In the main gym, the bleachers are being removed. 

“We’re taking the backboard down and moving them to the other gym. Putting new backboards in. We’re taking the ceiling out. The kids could not play volleyball because it wasn’t high enough,” Henri said. “The auxiliary gym and main gym and locker rooms has to be done by the first of August, for school in September.”

The six classroom wing on the east end is currently being demoed. As soon as the slabs are torn away, Henri said they will start working on the earthwork for the new building, which will be the art room and band wing. 

A lot will be going on this summer, with an extension of the slabs poured for the academic wing. It will continue through the administration wing, stage, band and potentially the art room. 

“In September, the students will be going back into the same old high school, except two new gyms. The six classrooms we’re demoing this summer, we’ve made arrangements for those to be in other classrooms. It will be almost like this past year,” Henri said. 

The academic wing, administrator wing, common and stage will have to be completely enclosed, so the work can continue through the winter, the interior completed and cleaned up for next summer. 

The only real issues that have been encountered, he said, have been the unforeseen sight conditions underground. 

“From the early sight package last summer, we knew there was bad soil down there, but we didn’t know where,” Henri said. “We also knew there were big boulders. The architect’s specifications clearly talks about what is required by the contractor and what is considered unforeseen sight conditions, like boulders. We’ve run into some unacceptable earthwork.”

Henri said they ran into a dump with all kinds of debris. 

“Looks like somebody dug a hole and put all kinds of stuff, construction materials. Last summer, we ran into some bad soil, bad odor, tree stumps, auto parts, rebar, concrete. Look like stuff from the construction of the school in the ‘80s,” Henri said. “This new one is more of a dump site. It did not smell bad. It just had debris. It had to be removed.”

As you would expect, there is a contingency fund. This falls into the unforeseen site conditions category under the construction change order, which is in the budget. 

Alpine Lakes Elementary

The slabs at the Alpine Lakes Elementary School were poured last week. Right now, Henri said they are staging for the masonry for the new multipurpose room. The structural steel is ready. 

“They will start staging at the end of this week. The masons will start on one end of the building, the structural steel on the other,” Henri said. “That is the sequence for the next two or three weeks. In another month, there will be a building standing there. That is going very well.”

The project to put the water ditch which runs across the site into a pipe has been delayed. Henri said they did not expect to have approval from the Army Corps of Engineers until June, so they are expecting it any day. The process included getting a JARPA (Joint Aquatic Resources Permit Application) from the Corps in to order to install the pipe. 

“When we put the application in, we had get a wetlands location. We put the historical study in. There was a designation in the study which concerned the Corps. They said we had to get further approval from the Colville Indian Tribes,” Henri said. “We went back and forth. The Corps was helping us. We got the Colville to say it is not a culturally significant site. They signed a form stating it is not an issue. Once we got that, we had to submit it to the state. They had to approve and give us a number.”

Henri said they’ve been told by the Corps that everything is ready. It is now just a matter of getting the number and issuing the JARPA permit. The school district will then put the water from the ditch into a pipe, then establish a wetland at the Poplar Street location. That should happen in the next week or so, he said. 

The plan is to get the building into the dry before winter, just like the high school. 

“You’ll see the structural steel and masonry going in. We’ll pour the slab on the second floor in a week or two weeks. They’ll get that building in the dry, put the exterior siding on. Then, we’ll work on the interior, plumbing, electrical,” Henri said. “With the progress we’re making, this should go really fast. We didn’t run into any unforeseen site conditions. As soon as the Corps approves it, we’ll get the pipe in the ditch next month. We’ll put in the (stormwater) detention pond.”

In terms of the new play fields, Henri said that is the responsibility of Fowler Construction, which is building the elementary school. Fowler is currently using that property to stage their structural steel and the pipe for the ditch. 

“Once they get the major components and pipe gone, then we’ll be in a position to do something. The soil is stockpiled from excess soil from the high school, elementary school and from Osborn,” Henri said. “That is all stockpiled with the intention of using that to make the field bigger. That is why the piles are there. Once we get the survey done, then we can find what we’ll do this summer, if anything.”

It is still an open question whether the new fields will be ready for next school year. The field includes a practice football field, several soccer fields and some areas for baseball. 

“We can’t interfere with Fowler. Right now, we’re trying to do this on a shoestring budget. We did not have a budget for this field,” Henri said. “Our next effort will be to get as much done as we can. At some point, we need to figure out if we’re going to do sprinklers and put turf in. If we don’t get the full field done, is it worth it to spend the money on turf that might get torn up next spring?”

The tennis courts at Osborn Elementary School property are ready for paving, he said. Paving could occur this week. After that, they’ll put paint on it and do the fencing. It should be ready by mid-July.  

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here