The bucket list School District No. 37 celebrates two big wins By Jillian Mitchell
South Delta Secondary School superlab.
For a school district director of facilities, nothing is more satisfying than scratching an item off the to-do list. This year, Frank Geyer of Delta School District No. 37 was able to cross off two – the South Delta Secondary School and the Delta Community College projects.
South Delta Secondary School To the tune of $10.2 million, the South Delta Secondary School project is the district’s largest current project. The two-storey facility, which boasts 1,350 students between grades 8 and 12, received a seismic retrofit beginning early July 2013, with a target completion of late October 2014. For Geyer, this project is one near and dear to his heart. “When I came to the district in 2002, I did a tour of all the buildings. I looked at the science wing of this building, which was arguably the most dated, neglected group of classrooms I’d ever seen in my career,” says the director of facilities and planning of the 40-year-old facility. “It was on my career bucket list to do something about it.” 14
Ops Talk • Fall 2014
Geyer and his team were finally able to put forth the South Delta Secondary seismic upgrade project application, which included a major renovation to the science wing, in November 2012. By June 2013, funding had been secured through a number of sources – the Ministry of Education Capital Plan, the sale of Tsawwassen School Reserve, the Delta School District’s Annual Facility Grant and local capital accounts, FortisBC, and the Tsawwassen Rotary Club – and temporary portables were subsequently moved on-site to assist with the project’s seven phases of construction. A project highlight for Geyer was the $1-million total renovation of the science wing carried out as part of Phase 1, involving a basic reconfiguration of eight combination classroom/lab rooms into a brand-new “superlab” with eight smaller, multi-use classrooms. The new lab features new walls, doors, flooring, and cabinetry; higher ceilings; energyefficient lighting and controls; new heating and distribution systems; and new furniture and A/V equipment. Additionally, the superlab boasts a “cool new look,” as facilitated through
the feature wall (in the school’s signature yellow) at the entry way and the vinyl accent flooring, and custom woodwork that includes repurposed butcher-block countertops from the original 1973 lab/ classroom tables. In addition, Phase 1 included the complete structural upgrade of the classrooms directly beneath the second-floor science wing, major re-roofing to 40 per cent of the school, and the replacement of 50 gas-fired rooftop heating units with 300 per cent efficient air-source heat pumps. Phase 2, which was completed in December 2013, saw the completion of the reroofing and the start of another seismic upgrade involving the six southernmost classrooms. Phase 3 focused on similar upgrades to the computer, art and graphics classrooms, along with the repainting of the main floor corridor and advance work in the shops block, all of which were completed over Christmas break. Wrapping up the project’s classroom block work, Phase 4 involved the temporary relocation of administration and library services into the upgraded classrooms, which enabled asbestos abate-
