Students will be back in their regular classrooms this fall
By B.C. Manion
As a new year rings in for Hillsborough County public schools, Gaither High students will return to a campus that is quite different from the one they left in June.
For one thing, the heavy equipment that’s been a fixture on campus for the past 18 months will be gone.
And, for the first time in a year and a half, the school’s 1,975 students and its 180 staff members will no longer be using any of the 24 portable classrooms that have been on campus during a five-phase renovation project.
Students and staff will also notice the final fruits of the $16 million project.
They’ll see improvements in the school’s cafeteria, gymnasium and auditorium. Those are in addition to renovations that were completed during the first four phases.
Principal Marie Whelan is thrilled to be nearly finished with the school’s first major facelift since it opened in 1984.
The upgrades are getting good reviews, Whelan said. “The kids said to me yesterday, ‘It looks like a community college.’”
Whelan, a Gaither alum, is thrilled to see the improvements at the school that she’s been leading since 2009.
Whelan appreciates the patience her staff and students have shown throughout the hassles that construction projects cause. Some of the students even had a hand in the project — helping to move some furniture and boxes, the principal said.
Students have been enjoying the updated media center, which has new tables, including high-tops. Many go the library before their school day begins, Whelan said.
“We’ll have 40 to 50 kids who get here early,” Whelan said.
Improvements that students and staff are likely to notice when they return to school this week include new lighting in the gymnasium and auditorium, along with a fresh paint job in the gym.
The gym’s bleachers also have been relocated so they’re closer to the basketball court. This frees up the room behind the bleachers, allowing space for other uses, such as wrestling or cheerleading practices, Whelan said.
The restrooms near the gym and auditorium have brand new stalls and fixtures, and gleaming tiles, too.
Other restrooms in the school also have been updated and all now comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, said John Williams, a project coordinator for Hillsborough Schools.
Projects of this scope always create disruptions, but efforts were made to keep them to a minimum, Williams said.
Classrooms were packed up and moved into portables while work was done and then packed up and moved back into the refurbished classroom spaces.
The work was timed to make the moves during the summer months and winter break to reduce disruption of students and staff.
Larger projects — such as the locker rooms, auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria and kitchen — were tackled during the summer, Williams said.
The renovation included replacing the school’s roof and air-conditioning system, adding fire sprinklers throughout the building, enhancing the intercom system and adding new fire and security alarms.
It also included adding a staircase near the front of the school to meet current codes, Williams said.
Another part of the project involved adding a new entrance into the front office. This shortens the distance people must walk between the parking lot in front of the school and the main office.
It also offers an extra measure of security because once classes begin each day, the doors leading into the corridor near the school’s cafeteria are locked up, and people must use the main entrance.
Other parts of the project included upgrading the lights in the parking lot and installing new ones near the school’s entry.
The renovation also included a fresh coat of paint for the cafeteria, a new serving line and some new kitchen equipment.
Crews did encounter some surprises, Williams said.
“When you do a renovation on a building this old, there is always something that comes up,” Williams said.
In this case, they found electrical panels that needed to be replaced, some frayed wiring and some conditions that were no longer up to code.
Flooring in high traffic places was replaced, Williams said. Other touches included new cabinetry in the science classrooms and new projector equipment in classrooms.
The project also involved some fresh landscaping around the new interior stairwell at the front of the school. The contractor purchased plants grown by Gaither’s horticultural program to complete that part of the job, Whelan said.
