CONSTRUCTION

Construction Commotion

Renovations and additions made to building

BY ARIEL MOORE [reporter]

Since winter 2021, construction has been non-stop. Stairwells closed, hallways shut down and parking lots so full it’s sometimes hard to find a spot to park at the school. Many people have been affected in numerous ways these past few years. There have been many concerns with the new additions and how the school year will be impacted. With so much going on, it can seem intimidating.

“The nice thing is that everything that is being built has been a new addition. There’s been no real renovations to the current infrastructure. Everything that is being added is something new, so nothing is compromised as far as our current structure. However, we do take precautions when they’re working,” Principal Russ Marcinek said.

The school takes many precautions to make sure everyone is safe and comfortable. There is no need for concern about the safety of the school.

“When they were lifting steel up over the building and into the courtyard, they could only do that after school hours, just in case a piece of steel fell off the crane and onto the roof,” Marcinek said.

With safety being taken into consideration there are still minor inconveniences that students have to deal with in their day-to-day lives.

“The noise is annoying and distracting. Sometimes you can feel the construction. It’s so loud,” sophomore Kane Sarna said.

There have been many opinions, questions and annoyances that the school community has had since the start of the construction, and there are a few different perspectives on the situation.

Not much inside of the school has been directly impacted by the construction. However, there have been some adjustments. “The area so far that has been most affected is by far our industrial tech area because there’s no direct hallway to get to our auto, machine shop, or our robotics room. Students have to change their route in order to get to those classes, but that’s about it. So far the impact on instruction or classes has been very minimal,” Marcinek said.

There’s been efforts to make sure that everyone involved is getting comfortable with the uncomfortable.

“We’re all experiencing the same thing with the construction, so I feel like it’s going to be interesting to see when it’s all said and done, despite the minor disturbances,” Marcinek said.

“I feel like it gives our students an opportunity to see what construction workers do and give them the opportunity to see how our school is going to evolve into something bigger and more modern.”