Jan. 22, 2002
It’s time — Central High School starts using new building
today
By Claudette
Riley
News-Leader
The wait is finally
over.
Classes in Central High School’s new 35-classroom addition
start today.
“It’s a palace,” said Greg Darnaby, an assistant
principal at Central. “It’s above and beyond what I
expected.”
Moving started Friday and emotions ran high during the
long weekend as teachers, librarians and staff moved into the three-story,
135,000-square-foot building.
“I wake up at 4:30 in the morning and
I can’t go back to sleep. I get home at 10 at night and I’m not tired,”
said librarian Sharon Marsh. “I’m on a real high. I feel like I’ve died
and gone to heaven.”
Central will mark the new addition today with
an assembly. Officials from Flintco, the district’s construction
management firm, will present Principal Everett Isaacs with keys to the
expanded building.
Other events are planned through the end of the
month.
“Some of our kids have never been in a brand new building,”
said Darnaby, a 1971 graduate of Central. “This puts us smack-dab in the
middle of the 21st century.”
For months, students and staff at the
1,100-student school have maneuvered in crowded conditions as the addition
was built.
“We’ve been in this cramped building for one and a half
years and it’s just like a pressure value is off,” Darnaby said of the
move. “It’s all been worth it.”
The addition — at a cost of about
$9.4 million — is the second phase of a plan to completely overhaul
Central. The final phase, renovation of the original interior of the
school, is slated to start this spring.
The overall project is
budgeted at nearly $23 million and includes $12 million from a $30 million
bond issue passed by voters in April 2000.
“They have done a good
job with the money,” Darnaby said of the air-conditioned addition. “This
is a good example of how the system works.”
Early Monday, tile was
still being installed off the large commons area. Painters touched up
first-floor rooms. Crews wiped down metal railing and cleaned
floors.
The second and third floors are sparkling and ready. Final
touches will continue on the first floor, as students start
classes.
“First floor is looking real good. There’s a push to get
it all done,” Darnaby said. “We have had delays but it’s a lot of the
things you have in construction.”
The kitchen and cafeteria staff
worked Monday to prepare the area to serve meals this week.
“I have
high expectations for this building. I think enrollment is going to go
up,” said Darnaby, whose three children went to Central. “This is really a
shot in the arm for the city of Springfield.”
Isaacs said band and
choir will move this week.
“Every classroom is over here with the
exception of band,” he said. “We are going to be ready. We are having
class.”
Space for more books
The tardy arrival of shelving
was the latest thing to delay a move of the new library media
center.
A problem with the carpet and furniture has also plagued
the plush full-service library that will include new, comfortable library
furniture.
“They are way behind on shelving and that’s what is
holding us up,” said Marsh, a Central librarian for five years. “We’ve had
two major delays.”
But when it was time to start moving, that
didn’t matter.
Current and former librarians in the districts
showed up to help.
“We have had a lot offer,” Marsh said. “We’ve
got almost everything over. The movers are bringing in the big
furniture.”
Early Monday, three rows of bookcases were being
installed. A dozen volunteers filled 15 book carts for the
shelves.
Using dusting gloves, they wiped dust — primarily from the
construction — off each book before loading it onto the shelves for the
new library.
There will be four search stations with six computers
each and a 28-station computer laboratory.
“We are thrilled. It’s
just so neat that our kids are going to have this,” Marsh said. “This is a
facility to die for — the amount of space we have. This is not a
plain-Jane library, it’s classy.”
A new Central
To Devon
Morris, the new addition didn’t quite feel like home yet.
She and
Anna Phillips, both members of Central’s famed Kilties, transferred
uniforms and equipment to the new building Monday.
“It’s not really
Central yet. The color scheme is not what I expected,” said Devon, 17, who
peeked at the new addition last week. “It’s a lot nicer than any of us
expected, but we are not going to complain.”
Using a large cart,
they moved drums and carefully pressed uniforms from the old building to a
temporary storage room near the new Kiltie office.
“That’s our
storage room but it’s not finished yet,” said Phillips, 15, pointing to a
room where construction continues. “The new building is definitely changed
but it’s definitely great.”
The two overshot the service elevator
twice and had to ask someone to direct them to the storage
area.
“That’s the first thing — getting lost,” said Phillips, a
sophomore. “But we are so excited. There will be some big changes but at
least it will happen before I graduate.”
They hope the new addition
helps the award-winning Kiltie program, now in its 76th year.
“It
will be a boost for our morale and will definitely get more students
involved,” Morris said. “We’ve kind of been shafted over the years. We
have gotten the least attention and we needed the most help.”
When
Morris was dropped off at the high school by her grandparents, who went to
the school, it looked virtually the same as when they were
students.
“They said it hadn’t changed much,” she said. “We needed
it and it has definitely changed now.”
Spreading out
Two
older buildings were demolished at Central to make way for the new
addition just north of the original parts of the school.
In the
months since, the school’s art classes were taught in renovated
bathrooms.
As art teachers unpacked supplies in their new
second-floor rooms Monday, they kept opening cabinets and marveling at the
space.
“There are so many little things I can’t believe,” teacher
Paula Potter said of the cabinets tailor-made for art supplies. “We have
paints, paper and brushes out and they all fit in these big beautiful
cabinets.”
Potter and Susan Brown put colored drawing chalk,
modeling clay, rulers, glue and a different types of paper in their open
cabinets.
Potter, who started at Central in 2000, said the new
space is liberating.
“I won’t have to share a room now,” she said.
“I can keep my supplies out. There is room for the students.”
She
said bigger projects are on the horizon. Students will be able to spread
out, work on sculptures and paintings without having to scale down because
of limited space.
“The kids were really great. They adapted,” she
said. “But this gives us room to move. I think they’ll be more
creative.”
Ample lighting, large tables and storage will help with
classroom management, Potter said.
“It’s going to improve the
quality of work from our students and what I think they can do,” Potter
said. “It’s a lot of work but it’s going to be worth it.”
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Upcoming events
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The Central High School community will celebrate the opening of
a new 135,000-square-foot addition to the school with a series of
events.
•At 8:30 a.m. today, Central students will gather in
the new commons area for an informal assembly. It’s their first day
in the new building at 423 E. Central St.. Keys for the new addition
will also be passed to Principal Everett Isaacs.
•A last
dance in the old cafeteria is 7 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday. All Central
students, staff and alumni are invited.
•A ribbon-cutting,
presentation of a time capsule and a reception ceremony is 10 a.m.
Monday.
•Central parents and students are invited to an open
house from 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 29.
•The public is invited to an
open house from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb.
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Gannett company.