Shiner High School is moving -- just not yet

Shiner High School is moving - just not yet
Teachers, staff, students expect to occupy new building by spring break
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Barry Halvorson, Victoria Advocate Sports Editor

VictoriaAdvocate.com Article | Shiner School Construction News | Construction Watch Home Page

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Dubbed "the dungeon," the science lab at Shiner High School dates back to its construction in 1927. If all goes well, the students and staff will move to the new school during spring break in March.

all photos by Barry Halvorson, Victoria Advocate

SHINER -Although the new Shiner school is not quite ready to move into, school Superintendent Trey Lawrence is confident the district's new campus will be ready by spring break.

"The Christmas deadline was more of a wish than a definite date," Lawrence said. "It was based more on a best case timeline from the builders than reality. In the back of my mind, I always thought that spring break was the more realistic goal."

Lawrence said both the district's school board and he personally wanted to get into the new school this year to fulfill the dreams of a number of people.

"I actually had some teachers that were going to retire last year but stayed on because they wanted the opportunity to teach in the new school," he said. "And this year's graduating class wanted to have the distinction of being the first class to graduate from the new school."

PIPES AND DUCT WORK

As for the remaining work to be done, Lawrence said finishing the installation of the air-conditioning system tops the list.

"We've got about two-and-a-half months left to complete the building which should be plenty of time," he said. "The contractors still have to install some pipes and duct work. After that will be the installation of carpeting, tile floors and ceiling grids. But you have to run the A/C for about 10 days to condition the building before doing that work. For example, the gym floor will be among the last items installed."

But other work is done or near done.

With connections in place, the high school science lab for the new Shiner school is ready for fixtures to be installed. The plan is for the district to move to the new campus during spring break in March.

"They expect to finish the parking lot next week," he said. "And the stage for the drama department is already in place. We've even got the new scoreboards in the gym installed."

While there was initially some minor disappointment in having to wait, Lawrence said most of the district's teachers and staff now seem to be more comfortable with the delayed transfer from the existing campus, located in the downtown area, to the new campus, located beside Comanche Stadium.

SENSE OF RELIEF

"While everyone is excited about the move, there was a sense of relief that we were going to have to wait," he said. "They would have only had a couple of days to move now where they will have a 10-day window at spring break so things won't be as hectic. We plan on initially only moving what is necessary to complete the school year and do the rest of the moving during the summer."

Lawrence said the move will be done in-house by school personnel and community volunteers rather than hiring a professional company. He added that he will not be "in charge" of the move.

"One of our students, Dalton Petru, is making it his Eagle Scout project to coordinate the move," the superintendent said. "He's signing up the volunteers and making the arrangements for vehicles. But we won't be leaving it all up to him. I'll be there to help as will others."

NOT TAKING MUCH

While the district initially planned to salvage as much as possible from the old buildings for use in the new buildings, Lawrence said, the scope has been significantly reduced due to cost savings in construction and an increase in the project's original $7.353 million budget.

The student drop-off area of the school resembles a grain bin similar to those found in the country near the school. The new campus is located next to Comanche Stadium, which can be seen in the background.

"There's not much we're going to be taking with us," he said. "The teacher and students desks are about it. We'll also bring over the walk-in cooler/freezer and a couple of other pieces of kitchen equipment. But in the end we wanted the new school to be like a Christmas present - something that when you unwrap it is total new."

The board approved adding an additional $140,000 to the budget for new materials.

"At their last meeting the board approved the increase to fund the installation of new chalk or dry erase boards for the classrooms as well as built-in cabinets and other value added items. We will save time initially on the installation and in the long run save money because they will last longer by being professionally installed. It also represents a cost savings because our builder, Sterling Construction, will be able to get a better deal on those kinds of fixtures. Sterling had done a great job with the budget for the project and the savings they found have already allowed us to add of lot of things to the budget we originally left out of the project to save on expenses."

The new facility is a combined pre-kindergarten through 12th grade campus. The classroom portion will house elementary classes downstairs with the secondary classrooms upstairs. The rest of the campus, connected by an enclosed walkway, will house science and computer labs, the cafeteria, gym, vocational classrooms and library and will be shared by all grades.

"We had a public tour of the building in November that was attended by about 200 people with a quarter of those being students," Lawrence said. "It was gratifying to see the expression in their eyes. When we got to the gym, for example, they just lit up. You really got a sense then the students were thinking, 'This is ours.' They joked they will need maps to get around because there is so much more room than in the current school."

Barry Halvorson is a reporter for The Victoria Advocate.
Contact him at 361-798-3888, or by e-mail at hvilladv@vicad.com.

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