GLASGOW — Construction at the Glasgow High School campus is moving into the next phase of demolition, renovation and building and board members learned more about the details Monday night during their regular monthly meeting at the district’s central office.

Scott Holt, manager of the project from Alliance Corporation, gave the board an update on what has been done at the school so far and what the next steps will be. He told members that workers had begun to set more structural steel on Monday and a large concrete pour was planned for 1 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Following graduation, crews also began dismantling bleachers and other structures inside the gymnasium, Holt said, but the main concentration of effort has been outside the building while workers have good weather.

Board chair Elaine Richardson recognized Alliance’s efforts to work the construction and demolition schedule around the high school’s commencement ceremony on May 27.

“I just want to take a moment and thank you for everything that you did to make graduation go as smoothly as it did,” she said. “I heard no complaints. You certainly did a masterful job.”

Holt explained that concrete blocks now encase the front and sides of the gym, which will act as a firewall. He showed board members photos of the locations of the new media center, corridors, auditorium and new restrooms for the gym. More walkway covers or “mushrooms” have been removed between the gym and main building to prepare the site for the new auditorium at the left front of the gym.

Hallways on all four sides of the gym will allow student circulation to all areas of the new school building including the kitchen/cafeteria area, which will be located at the back right corner of the gymnasium.

Richardson asked Holt if everything is on schedule so far and he said it is.

Board member Leigh Lessenberry commented he had noticed men working six and seven days a week at the site and Holt explained that along with taking advantage of the weather, crews were doing large concrete pours at night or on weekends when there’s not a lot of other workers around.

Kevin Cheek, of Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects, told board members that there’s usually a “flurry of activity going on behind the scenes” at the onset of a job that people don’t really see, but that the different construction crews were handling the schedule well.

“A lot of information starts flowing quickly. The contractors are doing a good job of managing the flow,” he said.

Cheek also brought brick samples to present to board members for the new building’s facade. He showed them different options of three brick colors that will be used on the exterior of the school. The majority of brick used will be a red color similar to that used at Highland Elementary.

“We want to give the building its own identity, but at the same time we want it to have some kind of tie-in and recognition,” he said.

In addition to the red brick, black-faced brick and tan or buff-colored brick will also be utilized in the design. The black will be used in a pattern on the outside of the auditorium’s large, front wall and the lighter brick will be used inside inset panels across the front of the rest of the building to break up the long lines of the space. Buff-colored stone will be placed along the base of the school.

After discussion on color, application of water repellents, venting and efflorescence (or mineral leaching), board members approved three colors of Belden Brick for the project.

The board also approved Facility Commissioning Group as the commissioning agent for the GHS construction project for a fee of $71,000. Because the board decided previously to make the school LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accredited, the commissioning agent is a requirement for qualification in the program.

Jim McGee, president of Facility Commissioning Group, explained that his company works as a third party in the district’s interest during design and construction phases to interface between construction managers and the school board to provide assurance that there is proper installation and operation of all complex systems at the new school such as energy-efficient environmental heating and cooling units and support for advanced technology applications.

Commissioning will put the school system in a position to save time for administrators and will give the high school an advocate that understands the technical aspects of the project and solve problems quickly, according to McGee.

“We will deliver a facility that works when you move into it,” he told the board.

McGee also explained that an energy coordinator will be incorporated into the process and his company will develop training for maintenance staff so there will be a smooth transition from construction to the operational phase. The company will conduct off-season mode testing for the school’s systems during the first year as well.

A final issue the board discussed during Monday night’s meeting in regards to the high school was the relocation of the school’s new main entrance on U.S. 68/Ky. 80. According to Randy Wilkinson, director of pupil personnel, the district will pay Alliance for the construction of the new entrance, but the state’s transportation cabinet will then reimburse a portion of that expense back to the district.

CELTIC ACADEMY

During another part of the meeting, Cheek asked for the board’s approval of preliminary schematic drawings and design development and Building and Grounds Plans (BGs) for the CELTIC Academy project at Happy Valley Learning Center to be presented to the Kentucky Department of Education.

With a targeted completion date of fall break for the project, Cheek told board members everyone would have to move quickly.

“We are on a fast track,” he said.

Cheek presented plans involving three existing classrooms at the facility, two of which would be combined into a large science classroom and the third that would be used as a math class. Renovations would also remove two non-ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) restrooms from the classes and build new ones across the hall utilizing part of another classroom.

The science lab would have sinks located around the perimeter of the room and a two-sided hood for demonstrations for students by the teacher. The new math classroom would have desks that could be reconfigured into larger tables.

A new entryway would include new floor tile in the corridor, a Celtic Academy logo used in several locations around the building and a new entrance and canopy on the right-hand side of the building near the bus pen area.

Cheek discussed several design elements that would enhance the overall visual appeal of the academy such as using a muralist to paint different rules of measurement in the math classroom and geological layers of strata and parts of the solar system in the science lab on a concrete beam and column that cannot be moved from the existing space.  

 “It takes something that’s an eyesore and makes it an educational opportunity,” he said.

The design includes elements that will make the classrooms more energy-efficient. Windows will be replaced with ones that have high-performance glazing and insulation will be added. New HVAC units will also be installed.

Board members told Cheek they want the facility to have the best technology and be “ultra high-tech.”

The academy will allow gifted and talented students in math and science in grades 3 through 7 to spend one day each week immersed in advanced classwork in those subjects.

The total cost for the project will be approximately $250,000 and will be paid out of the district’s general fund.

The board voted to approve the plans, which will now be presented to KDE in Frankfort.