By Paul Shapiro
On Dec. 9, the school unveiled its new state-of-the-art gymnasium to the public at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“I will remember this for many years to come,” Woodmere Middle School Principal Rick Berkowitz said. “The looks on the faces of the students as they entered the new facility were priceless.”
The new gym is only the beginning of the school's transformation. When the renovation is finished, the building will have a new facade, which will include new windows, as well as a new heating and ventilating system, lighting, ceilings and a host of other features to bring it up to modern standards. It will also have a new cafeteria and library/media center, as well as seven new classrooms. A new roof was completed a year and a
half ago.
“The gymnasium is only part of a larger plan to upgrade the entire school,” said Howard Weinick, Hewlett-Woodmere's school board president. “It’s incredible in itself, but it’s really the linchpin of the entire plan. We keep going, section by section, until the entire building is redone.”
The project was funded by a $24.9 million bond approved in December 2006 by District 14 residents. That bond covered the full cost of the gym, with an “overwhelming portion of the money going towards improvements at the middle school,” according to the district’s assistant superintendent for business, Dr. Peter Weber.
“The spectacular new gymnasium at Woodmere Middle School is the culmination of the hard work, dedication and support of many individuals within our community,” District 14 Superintendent Dr. Les Omotani said. "I would like to thank the residents of Hewlett-Woodmere for supporting the referendum that allowed us to proceed with our renovation plans at Woodmere Middle School, and all of the schools within our district. The completion of the new gymnasium is an important milestone in our renovation plans for Woodmere Middle School, and is phase two of several significant and long-awaited renovations we have planned.”
The new gym has a maximum capacity of just over 1,100 people. This will allow for the entire middle school population to assemble in one place, which up until now has been impossible. “One of the biggest advantages of the gym is the bleachers that will seat the entire student body,” Weinick said. “We can have every class come in to take part in a program. We couldn’t do that before. It’s just a great room, a really great space. It’s a room that is really going to serve not only the function of a gymnasium, but it’s really going to serve the entire community in so many ways.”
The gym can also be used on evenings and weekends at reduced cost to the district, since the building’s mechanical systems are separate from the rest of the school. It also has its own entrance and security system, so the main building can remain closed while with the gym is in use.
“We are very excited about it,” said Dennis Sheridan, executive director of facilities for District 14. “It really is a very special place. It was designed in such a way so that it is more than just a gymnasium. It's really a multi-purpose space. It is our hope that it’s going to be available for many years to come for our staff and students and the community to use and take advantage of. It’s really going to be a wonderful asset.”
The entire renovation process at the school will take several years to complete, and the next step will be turning the old gym into an updated cafeteria and library. Once that is done, the current library and cafeteria will be converted into classroom space.
The students will remain in the building during the work, and rather than going to the trouble of erecting portable classrooms — which are expensive to install and remove and must meet state standards for instructional space — it was decided that once the gym was completed, sections of the old gym, cafeteria and library would be used as swing space.
“We’ll be able to move people from their classrooms to their swing classrooms, which are within the footprint of the building, finish that work and then move the students back into the old classrooms,” Sheridan explained. “We are now in position to move blocks of classrooms out of service so we can do the necessary renovation on the rest of the building.”
Though the referendum was passed only two years ago, serious consideration of future changes began 21 years ago, according to Weber. “It took us a while to find the right solution,” Weber said. “The process of renovations in the middle school was under investigation for almost two decades, and during that time period there were various proposals to build a brand new middle school or to do renovations.”
The renovations idea won out due to a lack of support from the community for spending more tax dollars, which forced District 14 to come up with a way to do upgrades through a lengthy process. “After all is said and done, this is truly worth the wait,” Berkowitz said of the new gym. “We’ve had many different bond votes before, and this last one finally came through. We’ve been trying to get money together for a new facility for a very long time.”
There will be no additional tax burden on residents as the work continues. Public bids to build the new library and cafeteria will start being collected in January 2009, and after the New Year the board will turn its attention to that phase of the project during their February board meeting. Those renovations are expected to begin in March and continue through September.
“It’s really an exiting thing,” Weber said. “We’re really, really pleased that we can do this, we can do this effectively and that we can do this in a cost-effective way, which is really important in these times.”
Comments about this story? PShapiro@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 201.
