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Moore film raises ire at theater's screening
`Centennial Park'
begins to take shape
A hobby that fits like a glove comes to an end
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The finishing touches |
Construction at Newberg High School
and Joan Austin and Mabel Rush elementary schools rushes forward as
Sept. 7 school opening looms |
By Schellene
Clendenin, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Schellene at
sclendenin@eaglenewspapers.com
|
With just more than a month to go before kids begin packing up their
backpacks and moving into classrooms, construction at Newberg High
School is in full swing; at the same time finishing touches are
being made at Joan Austin Elementary.
The scent of fresh paint and carpeting, glue and lemon cleaner
permeate the once drab gray rooms of the new elementary school.
Little blue bits of tape stuck on walls and around frames indicate
areas that need repainted and flooring is being laid in several
places throughout the building.
Twisting around in the floor near the entryway and embedded in the
linoleum is a quote from the benefactor of the school: “Education
grants us the knowledge to pursue our dreams –Joan Austin.”
Preparation is ahead of schedule at the school; much of the kitchen
equipment has been put in place and all some classrooms lack is
furniture, slated to be delivered Aug. 8, said Claudia Stewart,
communications specialist for the Newberg School District.
In addition to large banks of windows lining the walls and
providing sufficient natural light to easily read in the rooms,
classrooms have been equipped with panels roughly two feet square
called Sola-tubes. Enough light is refracted by the tubes that the
room can be lit up almost without the fluorescent lighting on the
ceiling.
Work remaining to be completed includes hanging doors, painting,
some electrical wiring and completing irrigation work on the
perimeter of the school. An open house for the new school, which
will house Mabel Rush students and teachers for a year while that
school undergoes an extensive facelift, will be held Oct. 8.
There is a dramatic difference in the progress being made at NHS.
The sound of construction is to deafening in some rooms now that
students are no longer a few feet away studying for tests and
listening to lectures.
The whine of pneumatic drills and saws and the rumble of equipment
being pushed across the floor reverberates off the brick walls in
rooms constructed entirely of concrete and steel.
While much of the building will not be complete until February, the
auxiliary gym should be available for use as a substitute library
and cafeteria by the first day of school, Sept. 7. Holes have been
cut into the courtyard in-fill that will later be filled with Sola-tubes
similar to those used at Joan Austin.
Many of the classrooms in the high school in-fill will see very
little if any natural light, however, as part of the third
renovation to the school since it was built in the late 1960s has
eliminated windows in many of the rooms.
In the late 1980s the school underwent changes when a science
classroom was added. At that time, the school had been allowed to
fall into disrepair due to the method the school utilized to attain
funding, school officials said.
Stewart said that years ago, cash strapped school districts were
often forced to use funds allotted for maintenance and repair to
operate classrooms. Finally, after years of neglect, the building
began to look shabby and funds were raised to improve the school.
Another expansion and repair project was completed in the 1990s.
Current construction will fill in the open courtyard design with
classrooms and add a second level library over what will eventually
be the cafeteria. The current project is designed to provide enough
classroom space for 1,800 students, Stewart said.
The former art room will become the new home of Great Expectations,
the high school’s daycare facility, and will include a walled-in
play area and pick up and drop off areas nearby, Stewart said.
The scent of new wood in the auxiliary gym mingles with dust kicked
up by the repaving of the student parking lot. Although the area is
currently being used by construction companies for materials, a
place to park equipment and a location for the job shack, by the
time its completed students complaining last year about the lack of
parking will have less to complain about. Especially since two
portables have been removed from the lot.
Lockers will also be a new addition in the new front hallway of the
high school, Stewart said. Addition of the lockers was one of the
highly sought alternatives requested by the district when they
considered bids from construction companies. |
|
From July
31,
2004, Newberg Graphic
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