School renovation plans OK'd

August 21, 2002|by LAURA ERNDE

laurae@herald-mail.com

The Washington County Board of Education on Tuesday approved preliminary plans for a $12.2 million renovation and expansion at Salem Avenue Elementary School in Hagerstown.

Construction is still a year away, but when the project is complete it will make Salem Avenue the largest elementary school in the county, said Director of Facilities Management Dennis McGee.

BMGM Architect Inc. has proposed gutting the 51-year-old building and installing new windows, walls and doors. Plans also call for new plumbing, heating and air-conditioning systems.

New classrooms, offices, a gym and cafeteria also would be built, adding about 20,500 square feet to the 46,500-square-foot building. Parking spaces will be added near the new gym in the back of the school.

Plans also call for converting the old cafeteria into a media center.

Each classroom will have its own set of bathrooms, a feature that has become a standard safety feature since the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School, McGee said. In case of emergency, students could be locked down in their rooms for an extended period of time.

State education officials have tentatively agreed to pay for four kindergarten and two pre-kindergarten classrooms, which is enough space to accommodate all-day kindergarten and half-day pre-kindergarten, McGee said.

School board members directed McGee to request money for two more pre-kindergarten classes, which would allow the school system to offer an all-day pre-kindergarten program there.

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