Willow Glen Resident
Education
Rebuilt Willow Glen Elementary should be completed August 2007
By Laura Rheinheimer
After a two-month delay, work on a $5.1 million two-story building at Willow Glen Elementary School is under way.
The new building will include 14 classrooms and restrooms for boys and girls. The project will be ongoing throughout the school year.
The two-year project to modernize the school, which will cost $11 million, is funded by Measure F, a $429 million bond measure approved in 2002 to upgrade San Jose Unified School District's aging facilities.
The elementary school project had been slated to begin in June, but was delayed when the multiple-contractor bid package came in $1 million over budget, according to Ty Williams, director of school construction for the San Jose Unified School District. The project was re-bid and came in only $150,000 over the initial projection, Williams said.
The delay will push the project two months into the rainy season, but Williams doesn't think this will pose any significant problems. The building contract allows for a normal number of rain days, Williams said, and the contractors take the weather into account when calculating a job's completion.
But David Robertson, the project manager for Valhalla Builders and Developers, the general contractor, doesn't want a repeat of last year's stormy conditions.
"I hope this year won't have as much rain as last year," he said. Inclement weather could mean extended hours and weekend work in order to reach the Aug. 2 completion date, according to Robertson.
Demolition workers have already torn up the front parking lot along Minnesota Avenue and are re-compacting the dirt 4 inches down to create the building pad, according to Carlos Salazar, the project manager for PCM3, which manages construction projects for the school district. The compacting will include noisy excavation, ground vibrations and construction trucks hauling debris offsite, but will conform to all city-mandated noise and vibration restrictions, Salazar said. This portion of the job should be completed by Sept. 8, at which point the foundation can be laid. This could begin ahead of schedule, Salazar said.
Although the construction will be in full swing during school hours, the presence of construction workers will not affect academics, Willow Glen Elementary School Principal Dayle D'Anna said.
A 6-foot fence will enclose the construction site. It will, however, cut into the recess area, and any outdoor activities will have to be reorganized in order to compensate for the tight space.
"You just have to keep a very positive attitude," D'Anna said.
D'Anna and the school staff have talked about having more activities in the field and adding a cart with hula hoops, jump ropes and balls that students can use in the blacktop area near the cafeteria. This will compensate for the tetherball and four-square playing area that has become part of the construction area.
A relocated play structure in an area called Tiger's Park is still available to students, but it requires teacher or volunteer supervision. An organic garden behind the portable is also being created. This should add outside space for the students during the construction project.
"Play might have to be a little more organized because there's not a lot of room," said Alex Hoppe, president of the Willow Glen Elementary PTA.
She said ongoing meetings among school staff, construction managers and the district should help mitigate issues that might come up during the rebuilding process.
"They've been really great about trying to answer as many questions as they can," Hoppe said. "We're happy that they finally started."
D'Anna plans to maintain an ongoing dialogue with parents, teachers and students throughout the school year. She is confident, even with constant construction, students will be in a safe and comfortable.
There will be times when tractors, excavators and construction vehicles are present onsite, and sidewalk access on Minnesota Avenue may be restricted, according to Steve Adamo, manager of school construction for the district.
"It'll be disruptive to a certain extent," Adamo said. But the district intends to make every effort to accommodate the school's needs, which is exactly what it did Aug. 23 when all work stopped for the first day of school.
