by Superintendent Mitch Wainwright
If you take a ride through town right now, you will see many homes have been decorated for the upcoming holiday season. The recent warm weather has made it easy for families to get outside. In your travels, I hope you have had a chance to drive past the elementary school. While we do not have any holiday lights for you to see, there has been a great deal of progress made.
Earlier this year the wall panels were installed and the outside of the new addition went up quickly. Now, many of the projects are not as visible, but progress continues on track. Windows and door frames are in place, or covered, and the roof system has been installed over the largest section of the addition and the building is now “dried in.” This means that work crews will be installing finishing details. This week, drywall is being installed in the library area and paint crews will be painting sections of the addition. The heating and cooling system work continues along with electrical services. As the weather outside continues to get colder, and snow is coming soon, work continues. Winter will not stop the progress on the building project.
After meeting with the Site Superintendent from Kraemer Brothers, he feels that most of the finish work in the addition will be done sometime in February. While the first thought would be to move into the new locations as quickly as possible, the hope is that as we move into the spring of the year, we can move items into the new part of the building for storage. As soon as school is out for the summer break, Kraemer will begin the remodel portion of the project. We need to move classroom items out of the existing building and store them. Walls will come down, new openings will connect the new and existing buildings, and the main issue with the foundation will be addressed.
With the first snowfall there is always a sense of excitement for many people, especially our younger students. Add to that the display of holiday lights and the excitement only grows. I know it seems like such a long time ago when the referendum was passed and the project began, but the excitement only continues to grow. The plan is to have access to the entire building during the fall of 2021. Hopefully, everything will go as planned, and the project will be completed for the entire community to enjoy.