Demolition/construction in full swing at JR/SR high

“The big news for everyone is that we’re heavily into construction already,” said Ryan Smelker, project manager for Holyoke School District’s Building Excellent Schools Today project when visiting via Zoom during the June 1 school board meeting.

As of early last week, the senior high locker rooms were completely gutted and framing was up in the new locker rooms.

Superintendent Kyle Stumpf reported that the demo crew said they haven’t run into anything major that wasn’t expected. The only minor thing was in the old varsity locker room shower area where new corregated metal decking was used, as the crew didn’t feel the tin barrier in that area would pass inspection.

Walls around the former administration office were torn up the day of the board meeting, and metal framing was put up for the new office space.

Stumpf added that the crew also finished the steel beams and will start framing the old weight room which will be the new junior high locker room. Additionally, the former alternative school was completely gutted.

There’s a large amount of plumbing involved in the BEST project, and Stumpf noted that’s the next big step this month.

Smelker said there’s nothing out of the ordinary in the budget, and barring any major unforeseen circumstances, they’re still looking at an overall construction budget of $3,869,687. The $10,000-$15,000 for the minor decking addition is not significant in the scope of the project.

“It’s looking good to meet the Aug. 16 substantial completion date right before school starts,” Smelker said, acknowledging that he’s been happy with the project progress.

Reporting on Schneider Electric’s energy efficiency project in the district, Stumpf said they will wait on BEST project progress.

When the mechanical system is in place on the roofs, they will move forward with the glycol feeder so that BEST and Schneider reps can be in town at the same time.

Once lights for the new construction areas are installed, Stumpf said that Schneider Electric will come back to make sure those spaces are programmed and tied into the units.

Phone system, district house upgrades reviewed

In other updates in the district, the board approved up to $22,500 for PC Telcom to work on the infrastructure to update the phone system and voice IP.

Stumpf pointed out that some of this work fits in better with the BEST project timeframe, so the cost could be less than the projected $22,500.

Having determined that work needs to be done annually on the superintendent’s house, general estimates for roofing, kitchen work and windows were reviewed.

Board members expressed that they would like to see the kitchen work prioritized this year to push toward finishing upgrades on the main floor of the house. The basement, which needs a great deal of work, could be delayed to another year.

It was noted that the shake shingles on the home were probably the original shingles when the home was built in the 1970s. But Stumpf said to his knowledge there are no leaks.

Stumpf agreed to get a more detailed quote and a potential time availability for updating the kitchen, breaking the project into parts including countertops, flooring, cabinets and appliances.

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