WCS Outlines Future Of Building Project
WARSAW — Warsaw Community School Corporation hopes to keep the community apprised of its latest building project.
Superintendent David Hoffert gave a presentation at a special meeting held Wednesday evening, Aug. 26, in which he outlined the project. The plan, he said, is to keep the community informed throughout the process.
The project will focus specifically on Washington Elementary School, Lincoln Elementary School and Edgewood Middle School. The two elementary schools were built in the 1950s and the middle school was built in the 1970s.
Safety is a major issue behind the project and a top concern is the pickup and drop-off situation. In the 1950s, Hoffert said, students either walked or rode the bus; there was very little, if any, parent dropoff. Times have changed, however, and the increased traffic outside the schools in the morning and afternoon now presents a safety hazard.
Conditions inside the buildings are not much different. Edgewood was designed with an open concept in mind, but over the years walls have been added that present problems as far as accessibility. At the Washington, the roof and building exterior are main areas of focus, as well as mechanical and electrical issues and academic and cafeteria space.
Lincoln, Hoffert said, needs to be rebuilt entirely, though the gym may be salvageable.
Hoffert described the different groups who have been or will be involved with the project, including a criterion designer, three focus groups, a technical review committee and an advisory council. The criterion designer consists of architects and engineers that oversees the design build process, leads the school through the requests for qualification and request for proposal, meets with design build firms, fact checks and reviews pricing and proposals.
Each school has its own focus group consisting of teachers, parents, staff and others from the community who could contribute their own thoughts and insight.
The technical review committee includes the criterion designer and engineer, the school board president, Hoffert and the school corporation’s CFO and director of maintenance. The fourth group is the advisory council, consisting of community members who have specific knowledge or expertise pertaining to project requirements.
Plans are to break ground by October. All three buildings will be handled as one project, so work will take place on them simultaneously. Because of the scope of the project, Hoffert does not expect it to be done by the time next school year starts.
“But it will be within the next school year,” he said.
Hoffert added that future meetings will take place as things progress so the community can stay up-to-date.
[For detailed descriptions about this project, see WCS Presents Facility Plan: Lincoln Elementary, WCS Presents Facility Plan: Edgewood Middle School, WCS Presents Facility Plan: Washington Elementary and WCS Presents Facility Plan: The Bottom Line].