Major projects for high school and elementary school; minor work elsewhere
Summer time means school construction in Healdsburg, as crews try to complete projects in time for students to return in the fall, and this year, with the first phase of Measure D expenditures, work has been increased. Measure D is a $67 million bond passed by voters in November.
High school students will see the biggest changes when school starts on August 21, but they will have to contend with a few unfinished items as well.
The largest project has been the massive overhaul of the Smith Robinson Gymnasium, which, according to Glen Schaezlein, Supervisor of Maintenance and Operations for the district, will feature new floors, new bleachers, an acoustic treatment and a massive audiovisual upgrade including a drop down screen, new speakers and a fully integrated sound system.
“(You’ll be able to) actually hear what the announcer says in there,” Schaezlein said. “Right now there is a three second reverberation which makes it difficult to hear anything. We should get the reverb down by a second and a half which makes it exponentially better and actually turns the place into a decent presentation space.”
They have also wired in a fiber optic line to digital media classroom with hopes that at some point in the future games can be filmed and potentially made available as a live broadcast through Access Healdsburg.
The project hit a snag when eight inch diameter redwood roots were found underneath the concrete and subfloor, requiring tree removal work and replacing all the concrete — about 10,000 square feet according to Schaezlein — before the planned work could continue.
“Fortunately we started early,” he said. “If we hadn’t, we would be in trouble at this point. Things are looking good, the floor is going in right now, the bleachers will be next. We should be completed right around the first day of school.”
Another major high school project has been the reroofing and replacement of approximately 30 HVAC units on the main building.
Here too, crews ran into setbacks, as the amount of dry rot discovered under the old roof was more extensive than anticipated.
“That’s been the term du jour on the job site the last few weeks,” Schaezlein said. “We knew we would find dry rot so it wasn’t a surprise; it’s just the nature of remodeling old school buildings. You never know what you’re going to find when you start peeling stuff away.”
While “95 percent” of the work is expected to be completed by the first day of school, Schaezlein anticipates that some small “quiet” work will have to be completed after school has started.
“It won’t be 100 percent completed, but the rooms will be usable,” he said. “I’m reasonably confident that school will start when it’s supposed to start.”
The final major project at the high school is the conversion of the old weight room into an agricultural science classroom.
“They’ve been bounced around the last few years and not had an ideal space,” Schaezlein said. “This space replicates the other science classroom we built last year on the backside of campus.
There are no projects planned at the junior high school campus for the summer, though there is work planned in the coming years.
Fitch Mountain campus is completing the last of lawsuit-mandated repairs due to contractor errors that led to water intrusion.
The district sued the contractor, and they are responsible for paying for these repairs. The major work was completed last year, but a few small issues remained.
“It’s pretty minor stuff, stucco work and door thresholds,” Schaezlein said. “They won’t see much.”
Healdsburg Elementary’s campus is the site of the final major work for the summer. Last summer the district remodeled half of the classrooms and this year it is completing the other half of the work.
Windows and carpeting are being replaced, and paint and other upgrades are taking place. In addition, the playground has been resurfaced and changes have been made to the Kindergarten play area.
“We’ve a lot of good, positive feedback from the people that have seen it,” Schaezlein said.
The new surface is covered with brightly painted foursquare and tetherball courts and multiple types of hopscotch alongside racetracks, activity routes, compasses and even a spot for a game of Twister.
According to HUSD’s Director of Business Services Steve Barekman, the projects at the high school are being funded by from Measure D monies, while the Fitch Mountain work is being paid for by the previous contractor.
The elementary campus work cannot be covered by Measure D funds because of the unique structure of Healdsburg’s elementary feeder system, which includes Alexander Valley and West Side schools.
“The bonds that the voters approved in November 2016, as well as the bonds that were approved in November 2012, can only be used at Healdsburg Junior High School and Healdsburg High School,” Barekman said in an email. “If we were to sell bonds for elementary school modernization and construction, the bonds would have to be shared with Alexander Valley and West Side.”
Barekman also said that the funding for the work at HES comes mainly out of the district’s Deferred Maintenance fund, which is funded through the General Fund and the Capital Outlay Fund, which is funded through property taxes and requires the money be used for capital improvements.
