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July 3, 2009

Charlestown High project starts to take shape

By TARA HETTINGER The News and Tribune Fri Jul 03, 2009, 01:36 PM EDT

The nearly $40 million renovation and building project at Charlestown High School is starting to take shape.

The structure for the new classroom wings is set, with much of the construction taking place inside. Windows are scheduled to be put in next week, which will allow for more interior work to be completed, said Steve Hobgood, director of facilities for Greater Clark County Schools.

Even with everything that has changed, Hobgood said there’s little difference students will notice once they start school in late August. He said they will continue to attend classes in the original building until the addition is complete.

Once the two-story addition is finished, 80 percent of the existing school with be demolished, which will take out all of the structure that was built in 1951, leaving the 1976 addition, Hobgood said. A hallway yet to be built will connect the new building to the 1976 addition by the existing auditorium.

He said there will be little interaction between students and workers during the first semester. However, during winter break, some classrooms will be moved to the new building. Hobgood said there will be barrier walls which will keep construction separate from students for the rest of the school year.

Hobgood said this project was really necessary, since the original building was erected in 1951.

“It’s just so needed. It’s a lot older facility, and it’s really changing the look of the campus,” Hobgood said. “It’s going to be a dramatic change.”

The facade of the building will feature the school’s blue hue in addition to two different brick colors. A mock-up of what that will look like is set up on a smaller scale at the edge of the construction site, next to the teachers’ parking lot.

Another change inside the building is one made with safety in mind, Hobgood said. Each classroom door in the new facility will have a small window and a barrier wall just to the side of the door inside the room, creating a blind spot for a class full of students to hide if necessary.

“If you’re in a shutdown, a teacher can go in here with her class and lock the door from the inside with her key,” Hobgood said, pointing in one of the incomplete rooms, indicating that students wouldn’t be seen from the door.

He added that the door has a feature allowing it to be opened from the inside, without the key.

Another new feature is that the school will have a sunken gym, as Hobgood calls it. People entering from the ground level will come into the gym and be at the top of the bleachers, with the gym being below them.

The school’s old gym already has been renovated for future wrestling rooms and other uses. However, it’s housing temporary classrooms now.

Hobgood said the project was ahead of schedule, until the wet June set them back to normal schedule, which is to be done in August 2010.

SO YOU KNOW

• Once the two-story addition is finished at Charlestown High School, 80 percent of the existing school with be demolished, which will take out all of the structure that was built in 1951, leaving the 1976 addition.

• The original building was constructed in 1951

• The new building is supposed to be finished in August 2010

• The renovation and building project at CHS is estimated to cost around $40 million .