By B.C. Manion
It’s been a quarter-century since Gaither High School opened, and now it’s getting ready for $17.3 million makeover.
The project, slated to begin in late January, will take about 18 months to complete, said John Williams, project coordinator for Hillsborough County public schools.
The work will be completed in five phases, with the phases to be done a semester at a time and over summer.
Twenty-four portable classrooms will be used to accommodate students when the work is being done during the school year, Williams said.
“The big assembly spaces will be done in the summer,” Williams said, when the school is closed. Those spaces include the cafeteria, the auditorium, the locker room, large music rooms, the dining room and the agriculture, drafting and automobile labs.
Once a semester has started, students will not be moved either from the portable classrooms into the school building or vice versa, Williams said.
The work will involve replacing the school’s mechanical systems, which means removing the big chillers and air handlers. That work will require removing and replacing the ceiling and lighting. The school also will get a new roof.
The project calls for new fire alarms, new security systems, a new intercom system, repainting and the installation of fire sprinklers. It also includes sealing up the ventilation system.
Air quality problems plagued Gaither High schools during the early 1990s, prompting staff and students to complain about the air being too cold in some parts of the building and too hot in others. They also objected to mold growing on an interior wall and on some tools, equipment and ceiling tiles in a classroom wing.
Williams said the project calls for replacing the air-conditioning system and the school’s roof, so he doesn’t expect similar problems to occur.
Because the project is being done at a high school, students may be attending portable classrooms for some periods and classes in permanent spaces during the rest of the day.
People passing by the school probably won’t be able to tell that anything is being done inside the school, Williams said.
The project also calls for adding a stairwell at the front of the building, to meet current safety codes. The restrooms also will be updated to meet current American with Disabilities Act requirements.
Air quality problems plagued Gaither High schools during the early 1990s, prompting staff and students to complain about the air being too cold in some parts of the building and too hot in others. They also objected to mold growing on an interior wall and on some tools, equipment and ceiling tiles in a classroom wing.
