Miscelleaneous Photos

Here are some miscelleaneous photos from around the building. 

This hole is located in the front hallway close to the parking lot.  As I was photographing one day, I noticed that there were workers coming in and out of this opening.  It was much like the way busy bees would go in and out of a hive.  So I went over to take a picture of the work they were doing and this is what I saw...............

......hmmmmm, where did they go?

Not here either.  Actually, they were working in an area that I couldn't see from the opening.  There is much work to be done even if you can't see it. 

I realized that I never posted a picture of the new hallway that leads to the cafeteria.  For the village teachers this was one of the most exciting things that was finished.  It cuts down on our travel time into the building. 

I just thought this was a neat picture.  The electricians were stacking outlet inserts to prep for the building of the concrete block walls in the new classrooms. 

But Why Didn't They Pour All of New Hallway?

I'll be glad to answer that question.  In the new plans, there are some changes to that portion of the hallway.  It previously was home to six classrooms.  With the renovation, it will be home to eight classrooms, bathrooms, and a mechanical room.  The addition of a mechanical room and bathrooms requires plumbing.  The hallway has plumbing that leads to the sinks located in the classrooms.  The plumbers have finished the kitchen and can now work on the same process in the new hallway. 

This is the area closest to the end of the old hallway.  Trenches have been dug to lay PVC plumbing. 

The plumbing is awaiting inspection. 

The view is from the end of the old hallway.  The bathrooms and mechanical room will be to the right. 

New Classrooms

The workers have been making visible progress on the new classrooms.  The new part of the hallway extends out to where the old blacktop play area was located.  The concrete floor was poured for the six classrooms that will be on the farthest end.  

Everywhere you go there are plans for the renovation. 

Insulation was installed before the flooring was poured. 

At this point, the footers were in place, dirt has been leveled, and gravel was being spread. 

It takes a lot of gravel for this process. 

Gravel was leveled out.  The black material is a drainage pipe.  

A water barrier has been laid and then rebar placed on top of it. 

Finally, the concrete was poured and smoothed.  It hardens very quickly. 

The hallway was not poured due to plumbing being added.

Take a Look at the Front Hallway Progress

The work inside the front hallway has been much quieter over the last week or so.  The interior walls and doorways have been installed.  New load-bearing walls have been added to each classroom.  Electricians have been making sure we have plenty of outlets and data ports for computers.  Some lucky workers have also been busy scraping up all of the old floor tiles. 

One of the classrooms is being used to store electrical components. 

In a previous post I showed the masons building the load-bearing walls.  This is the finished product. 

The new inset doorways with a portion of the old wall. 

Standing at the back door allows a view of the hallway with new walls and inset doorways. 

Our old floor tiles. 

After much scraping, there are pieces of tile left to be swept up. 

Getting up all of the final small pieces of tile.  Notice how the doorways will look from inside the classroom. 

Progress In the Kitchen

The plumbers have been busy in the kitchen.  They  have now installed the plumbing that is in the flooring.  It has passed inspection and the trenches have been filled in with gravel.  The next steps include covering the entire area with gravel and pouring the concrete flooring. 

Pipes were installed and awaiting inspection. 

After passing inspection, the workers began filling in the trenches with gravel. 

The electricians have come into the kitchen and marked locations for electrical work that will need to be completed before the concrete floor is poured. 

Working From the Ground Up

It's exciting to see the rebuilding of the front classrooms that were demolished.  All work must begin at ground level. 

As work begins on the exterior walls, a trench is dug and rebar is laid for the footers. 

A layer of concrete with more rebar is laid.  The plastic toppers are not permanent but rather a safety precaution while the rebar is sticking out of the concrete. 

Workers Dwayne and Hunter install the forms for the concrete that will be poured. 

Another layer of concrete is now poured. 

After the forms are removed, a singled layer of concrete block has been laid. 

Work is now beginning on the footers for the interior walls.  Rebar......

...and then a fresh layer of cement. 

Another part of the footer but I am unsure as to why it has this shape. 

The Kitchen is Coming Along

The demolition of the kitchen was exciting to watch and it seemed as if there were significant changes each day.  As the teams come in and out doing various jobs, the work seems a bit less exciting but still very important.  Since it is the kitchen, plumbers have had quite a bit to do before the concrete foundation can be repoured. 

The plumbers have been busy digging trenches to install PVC pipe all over the floor area of the kitchen. 

They have to dig fairly deep in order to lay the pipe.  But the work is worth it because they are replacing..............



.....this sixty year old set of pipes. 



Working in the Front Hallway

Rebuilding of the front hallway is underway. 



The electricians look over plans as they continue to install electrical wiring in the classrooms.



As work continues, someone must keep the areas swept. 

Concrete block is laid against the load-bearing walls for extra stability.  There were actually three masons working on this wall at once.  Their method of applying the cement and laying the block created a rhythm that was fun to watch. 

At this point several of the interior walls were up.

A day later all of the classrooms had interior walls. 





Dismissal

The first few days of dismissal during a new school year always takes a bit longer than usual.  This year, we have had to change dismissal procedures due to the renovation.  Even with the changes our staff and students have really pulled it together and been able to cut our dismissal time by 10 minutes over the first four days. 

Effective Wednesday, August 17th, we will begin dismissal at 2:30pm. 

New Interior Walls

If you are close to the front side of the building it has been impossible to ignore the sound of progress.  A quick glimpse into the front hallway reveals new interior walls.  Classrooms are beginning to take shape again. 

As you step into the doorway on the Mary Queen side of the building, this is what you immediately see.  It is the hallway wall of the first classroom. 

This view is standing from the computer lab.  The door frame is set as the concrete block is installed. 

This is the entrance to the classroom.  Each classroom doorway is actually inset into the wall.  This will offer a very new look as we go down the hallway when it is completed. 

Dividing Construction Work from School Work

As the renovation process continues, a great effort is made to keep the construction team separated from the students and staff of CME.  This helps to ensure safety.  The metal fences have been erected in order to create defining boundaries from the work areas. 

The classroom at the end of the front hallway that is closest to the computer lab is one area that they have worked on so that the work area and debris are kept out of our active learning areas. 

The classroom wall was torn down.  The area with the black plastic is the hallway that leads downstairs to the entrance closest to the flag pole. 

It was replaced on the same day. 

In a former post you could see the temporary wall that was installed by the computer lab.  Since it was during the summer the wall had a doorway for the workers to use.  Since school has started, the door has been replaced with a solid wall.   

This is the new portion of wall from inside the classroom. 

Outside Work

Progress is being made on the outside of the building.  The front walls by the bus lane are completed.  Work has also begun on the footers for the classrooms that are being rebuilt. 

The concrete block wall has extended all the way along the bus lane side of the building. 

This giant roller was driven back and forth across the area of ground that once held the small classrooms.  After what seemed like forever, the area ended up looking like this..........

Now the area that once held our small classrooms, then had a giant pit dug into it, and had 'good' dirt put into it is now a nice flat area ready for a footer. 



The footer has been poured.  Rebar awaits concrete block to begin the building process for this portion of our renovation.