Structures Taking Shape At New School Site
SYRACUSE — Three significant structures at the site of the new Syracuse Elementary School are noticeable — the main office (to include the media center and multi-purpose room), the gym and cafeteria. And due to a milder than normal winter, much of the work continues to progress ahead of schedule.
Construction began at the site along the west side of Kern Road Sept. 29, noted Bob Lahrman, director of support services for the Wawasee Community School Corp.
The main entrance will face Kern Road and will include the main office area. Concrete has been poured for the office area, as well as the hallways and classroom wings. Concrete has yet to be poured for the classrooms, Lahrman noted. Wings will come off the main office area “like spokes,” he said.
Supporting walls continue to be put in, Lahrman said. The next area of focus will be working on the higher areas of the gym, office complex and cafeteria to include roofing and other work. “Other wings will tie in to these structures,” he said. The cafeteria will be larger than the one being used at the current Syracuse Elementary and will allow for more students to be served at the same time.
Wings will include classrooms and there will also be music and art rooms. There will be a common receiving area for custodial and food service. And there will be an area for students to be dropped off and picked up. Work will not begin in this area until later in the summer or possibly the fall because it will be asphalt and the intent is to avoid concrete trucks from constantly driving on it.
Natural gas service has yet to be connected and will be provided by NIPSCO. Geothermal will be used for heating and cooling. It will be the first time a Wawasee school building will utilize geothermal.
Water is available at the site and is being used for mortar mixing. The soil has proven to be a benefit and has been used on site to produce gravel and sand. Lahrman noted this has reduced costs because those materials don’t have to be brought in by trucks.
He estimated roughly only 11 workdays have been lost where no work has been done on the site, though on a few of those days some of the pre-fabrication piping work has been done off site.
Work is either ahead of or right on schedule, he said. Even if the next winter proves to be more harsh, heat should be available to allow work to continue inside.
The new Syracuse Elementary is scheduled to be ready to use for the 2017-18 school year.