Facilities overhaul underway in Lawrence schools

While summer is the time for students to escape school, the season is the time for districts to create a more attractive environment and through its $17.5 million capital improvement project the Lawrence School District is doing just that.

"It was like Christmas time for these kids when they saw the improvements," said Lawrence Deputy Superintendent and Superintendent Designee Gary Schall of the $800,000 reconditioning of the Lawrence High School auditorium that included new air conditioning and ventilation, as well as state of the art lighting, sound and video.

The middle school and the high school are benefiting the most from renovations. Classrooms are getting all new furniture, new public announcement systems, and central lighting. Every school is now handicapped accessible.

All the science labs in the middle and high schools are receiving all new cabinetry, sinks and equipment. New fire systems and boilers have been installed. The high school has also received a new synthetic turf track field that can be used immediately after rainfall as the materials absorb water and there are no puddles.

To accommodate the demands of the Department of Environmental Conservation, the field was created with an elaborate moat system; The moats will collect stormwater, and allowing runoff to percolate down the earth instead of being drained directly to the peninsular canal surrounding the school, according to Facilities Director Chris Milano

The $31 million sale of the Number One School financed the grand scale renovations, with the balance going to tax relief, according to Schall. Funding was also approved in a public bonds vote. Money allocated for improvements under approval of the voters cannot be used for other purposes, such as funding teachers' salaries, Schall said.

"That we're finishing off capital improvements is unheard of while other districts are scrambling," Schall said. "I'm inheriting a new district."

Milano, who overseas what he estimates is 50 to 60 different plumbers, electricians, and general construction workers per day working under 14 different contractors, said that in his 10 years as a facilities manager, he has never seen a district with "cash on hand," for improvements, rather than having to rack up interest payments while borrowing the needed money.

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