Jackson School District has months of construction left

Jackson school administrators hoped to host the district basketball tournament in a gleaming new gymnasium. But with a three-and-a-half-month construction delay due to weather, games were held elsewhere. Now administrators are crossing their fingers that the Events Center and other buildings will be complete by the start of next school year.

"We've got a lot of construction yet to go," said Jackson High School principal Rick McClard.

Workers are focusing on the Fine Arts Complex, which will house the music and band departments. Classrooms take priority, said Howard Hemmann, project manager for Penzel Construction Co., the general contractor.

When complete, the $19.8 million project will connect most of the campus under one roof. Students will gain a new gym, cafeteria, library, music rooms and industrial arts space. The project began in October 2006.

The Fine Arts Complex is on hold awaiting a shipment of materials. In the next two to three weeks, a subcontractor from Detroit will install oversized windows that will overlook West Jackson Boulevard in the band room. Once the building is enclosed and dried, Hemmann expects the complex to progress quickly.

"It will just be a matter of painting the block walls, installing vinyl tiling and laying the ceiling -- that part goes fairly fast," he said.

The rain and ice were particularly problematic because it came when workers were ready to install the roof to the Events Center. In order to hold choral or instrumental performances, the center requires a special acoustic deck be placed first.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Oversized windows that overlook West Jackson Boulevard are unfinished in the new band room of the Fine Arts Complex under construction at Jackson High School.

"One day we could work, then we'd get two to three days of rain, and then we'd have to wait for it to all dry out," Hemmann said.

Vince Powell, who will be promoted from assistant principal to principal next year when McClard retires, said workers focused on the fine arts building during rain.

"Right now I'd say we're on schedule," he said Wednesday, but Hemmann said the contractor lost 72 working days to weather.

After the events and fine arts centers are complete, the B Building, which currently houses the music department, will be torn down. In its place, administrative offices, a library and classrooms for business and foreign language will be erected. The second phase is expected to take 14 months.

Rain and icy weather slowed construction of the Events Center at Jackson High School.

School officials haven't decided how the old library will be used.

Two groups of students are already using new space: Greenhouses have been transported to the old annex and are being used by horticultural classes. A garage door was built linking a drama classroom to the auditorium, allowing props to be built and transferred directly to the stage.

"Kids are loving not having to make props in several different pieces," Powell said.

Features of the buildings under construction include a band room nearly the size of a football field, individual music practice rooms, a courtyard, a cafeteria that will feature dining booths similar to a restaurant, a walking track that overlooks the new gym, aerobics and cardio rooms, and two art rooms. A 14-foot screen will be outside the gym so people can watch games while buying concessions.

Students walked across campus Thursday outside C Building at Jackson High School.

The renovations will add about 100,000 square feet to the school, for a total of 250,000 square feet under one roof. The old gym and the annex will remain separate.

Student Jamie Brewer hopes the completed project will make the school "less chaotic and less crowded." As a senior, she's experienced the inconvenience of the construction, but won't get to use the final product. She said she plans to be back to visit.

In the meantime, Powell hopes Wednesday and Thursday's sunshine is a sign of good weather to come. "I can't wait until it's finished. This something we've needed for a long time," he said.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

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