Schools tackle summer improvement projects
By JENNIFER WILSON
News editor
Terry Pritchett isn't the only one who probably wishes school started a little later in the fall.
It's not because Pritchett has a summer vacation that he'd like to extend. Quite the opposite — Pritchett's summer is jam-packed with projects to finish.
Pritchett is the physical plant and maintenance manager at Tabor College, and his job is to oversee the many improvement projects being undertaken around campus this summer. And it's all got to get done before the students come back in late August.
At Hillsboro's schools, summer vacation for students doesn't mean a summer vacation for many staff members.
At Tabor, one of this summer's big projects is installing air conditioning in the classrooms on the third floor of the Lohrenz Building. Before now, they've had no air conditioning, Pritchett said.
Tabor work crews also have a mammoth landscaping project to take on.
All around campus, the old evergreen bushes are being removed to make way for new plants, he said. The evergreens have been a problem for years, bringing lots of bagworms and a tendency to get overgrown.
In their place, crews will plant a variety of bushes, including spirea, and trees, including the red bud and maple varieties.
But for now, Tabor's landscaping efforts are on hold while the city weathers its current water crisis, Pritchett said. You can't put in new plants without watering them.
Just having the evergreens gone is a vast improvement, he said.
More campus sprucing is scheduled for July 11 and 12, when Tabor's annual "Tool Time" hits campus. An influx of alumni will arrive to help with various projects, including painting the baseball field fence and football field bleachers. Last year's group helped install an underground sprinkler system at the soccer practice field.
Another goal of Pritchett's is to pour a concrete "pad" out at the main soccer field for the bleachers to rest on. But he doesn't know if the money will be available for the project.
In between projects, workers will finish routine maintenance jobs such as painting dormitory rooms and fixing plumbing.
In the Durham-Hillsboro-Lehigh school district, some big projects are also underway.
The biggest is the remodeling of the entrance to the Robert C. Brown Gymnasium at Hillsboro High School.
What was wrong with the current entrance, you ask? Just this: The Kansas State Fire Marshal said that the eight doors — four outer, four inner — weren't enough to allow the full capacity of the gym to leave safely if a fire broke out.
The gym can seat 2,000 people. According to state regulations, the gym must have 0.2 inches of exit-door space for each person in the gym. That means that Hillsboro needs 400 inches of exit space.
It now has 288 inches of exit space, distributed among eight 36-inch doors. To meet state requirements, the gym needs four more doors.
The plan approved by the USD 410 school board last November adds six more doors — three outer, three inner. To make room for the doors, the first raquetball court was cut in half, and the remaining court will be used to store gym equipment.
A canopy will extend over the entire entrance, and a handicapped-accessible ramp will allow those with wheelchairs easier access. Right now, the nearest handicapped entrance is by the auditorium.
Although work on the entrance will continue through August, construction crews must have a "dust free" environment by July 15. That's when another crew comes in to sand and finish the gym floor, said Superintendent Gordon Mohn.
Last year's re-sanding and re-finishing of the floor by Great American Hardwood Floors of Wichita resulted in flaws and uneven spots in the floor. They offered to redo the project for free, with the district paying for the finish and the re-painting of the floor designs.
This summer, the floor should be completely re-sanded and finished in four to five weeks, Mohn said.
Other summer projects around the district include installing a heated sidewalk in front of Hillsboro Middle School, putting a fresh coat of finish on the HMS gym, and replacing carpeting in various areas.
