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Lansing school administrators and school board members took a tour of Lansing High School Monday to see progress on major construction there.  Construction Manager Rob Medieros led the group through the school, which has been closed for construction since the day after graduation.  Medieros says contractors are speeding toward completion so the building will substantially completed before the end of August for the new school year.  To see it you would never guess it is that close to completion.  It looks like a giant hand reached in and tore out walls, ceilings, and floors.

"It does look like an awful lot," Medieros says.  "Our ceiling guy is absolutely amazing.  He did the library ceiling after lunch one day.  This morning he hung the ceiling frames for four classrooms.  He's incredibly fast.  And a good floor guy will put down 2500 feet a day.  We're in great shape.  Some areas will show 45% complete, some will show 73%.  We should be at 67% so we're very, very close.  We should be substantially complete by August 26."


On the outside of the building the top third of the mortar in the brick walls has been routed out and re-grouted.  The concrete cap was also refinished.  He said that power-washing the bricks damage them, so that is not being done.  Major repair work is also being done to the concrete stairway near the loading dock at the rear of the building.

But the main brunt of the work is being done inside.  The school was originally built with thin, temporary walls that did not reach the ceiling.  The idea was that room configuration would be flexible, and walls could be moved around to accomodate changing teaching needs.  That was never done.  The worst aspect of the temporary walls was the noise, making it hard to hear in classrooms .

Those walls are now piled behind the school.  They have been replaced by thick, insulated permanent walls that reach from floor to ceiling.  Above the sheet rock the openings are being covered, and classroom walls are being insulated with acoustical batting.  Spaces between roof beams are being filled in.  Two layers of gypsum wall board are being used on each side of the new walls, making six inch thick walls that will be a lot more sound-proof than the temporary walls were.


The library, two special education rooms, and a few other rooms like the counseling office will get new carpet.  The carpet in the rest of the school will be replaced by tile floors to match existing patterns in the school. 

"I thought it was going to be a lot noisier in here with the carpet gone," High School Principal Hartz says.  "It is surprising to me -- the insulation and what they have done with the walls, and we don't even have a ceiling yet -- that this is not loud.  I was very concerned about that, but I am very impressed with the noise reduction.  And we are way ahead on maintenance because that carpet was just brutal.  The germs are brutal, and it takes them hours to vacuum, which raises dust."


Lights from the recently completed Energy Performance Contract Capital Project are hanging from the roof, waiting for a new ceiling.  Most of them will remain in their old positions.  The rest will be rehung to accomodate the new room configuration.

The overall room configuration remains pretty much the same, but some rooms will be different sizes or in different locations. 

The main computer room that serves the building on the second floor across from the library has been kept in operation all summer.  A hub on the first floor serves the downstairs rooms.  Medieros says keeping the computer room operational was the most difficult part of this entire project.  The computers have to be air conditioned and dust free, so extending the height of the walls and keeping the space cool was a special challenge.

Dust from the construction is also a problem for the fire alarms.  Medieros says workers have to call Tompkins County Dispatch at the beginning of each day to tell them not to respond to alarms the dust sets off.

Air induction units will be hooked up to a series of geothermal wells on the west side of the building.  Those will control heating and cooling.  But they are not scheduled to arrive until after school starts, so Superintendent Stephen Grimm says there will be some hot days this fall.

"The air conditioning that is normally on in the high school will not be operable this fall," Grimm says.  "It's going to be like the middle and elementary school.  It has to do with the air induction units that are coming.  They are not going to be here until school starts.  Te real chore will be to get those in place before the heating season.  The same devices control the air conditioning, so without those units we can's heat or cool the air."


Curbs that were for water retention in the locker rooms are being removed to bring them up to code for accessibility.  The boys' locker room will have all new lockers.

As always varsity practice starts before the beginning of the school year.  Accommodation has been made for the Girls Varsity Swim Team, which begins practice Monday.  They will enter the pool from the side door on the exterior wall of the natatorium.  The girls' locker room will be open for their use, but the boys' locker room will be closed off, as will be the doors to the interior hallways.  The coaches will be able to access their offices, but the upstairs and areas outside the pool will be roped off, including the weight room and the wrestling rooms.


Hartz says that a wad of old two-pronged extension cords were found in the cafeteria ceiling, probably used for proms, and definitely not conforming to code.  But Medieros says that very few surprises were unearthed when walls and ceilings were removed.

"Nothing really crazy.  There was a ton of wiring in the ceilings from days gone by.  We found a flamingo, and a teddy bear."

One of the more astounding sights right now is the rear portion of the gym, which is being used to store literally everything from the school.  At the end of the school year teachers were given palettes to put their things on.  Once filled, the palettes were all moved to the gym, which is currently packed with all the familiar items students see all around the school.

That includes books and shelves from the library as well as classroom materials and furniture, and band equipment and instruments.  The wrestling room is also filled with storage.  All the items from the entire school only fill about half the gym, which is closed off with a sliding wall.  When the rooms are completed the palettes will be brought up for teachers and staff to unpack.

Between 40 and 50 workers per day are working on completing the building by the August 26th completion date.  Ceilings and floors are going in, and painting has started.  White boards and teaching surfaces started being installed in the new classrooms Tuesday.

Teachers return September 6th and school opens September 7th.  Grimm says the School Board will be invited for another tour shortly after school begins.

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