WASHS classrooms to be ready for start of school

August 19, 2009|By JENNIFER FITCH

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Construction crews working on Waynesboro Area Senior High School are spending their time in business classrooms this week, getting them ready for the Aug. 31 start of the 2009-10 academic year.

"We're just pushing full steam. The contractors have told us we'll have our classrooms by that date," said Jeff Adams, maintenance director for Waynesboro Area School District.

Lobar Associates Inc. and subcontractors are wrapping up a $46 million high school renovation and expansion project. From it, the school gained more than 100,000 square feet, including a new auditorium.

"It's gratifying to see it when you see what you've come from when the shovel hit the ground in January 2007," Adams said.

Workers removed the last asbestos from the nearly 50-year-old building this summer. On Wednesday, they started paving the back parking lot and will continue those efforts in the area of the former D Wing later this week.

Landscaping and smaller interior projects, such as swapping out floor tile, will continue after the start of school, Adams said.

Adams, a WASHS graduate, said he's heard negative comments in public about the project's price tag, but he's proud of what's been done.

"It was time for the change," he said.

Some teachers are starting to arrive to prepare classrooms, but they're generally being asked to hold off because of safety concerns, Adams said. About 50 to 75 workers are on site on any given day, he said.

Waynesboro borough and school officials are negotiating improvements and paving needed on East Second Street near the school.

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