Campbell County Middle School is getting a facelift.
The school is undergoing a $10 million project to make it safer and more energy-efficient, among other changes.
The most noticeable change from driving by the building will be the new façade. The original exterior and front entrance of the building is from 1961. The new plans implement safety features and a more ADA-accessible design.
“We’re upgrading that to make sure that we’re enhancing security features not only once you get into the building, but from the exterior of the building also,” Campbell County Schools Assistant Superintendent of Operations Mark Krummen said.
The school office area is at the front of the building and will be getting reconfigured, and new safety features will be installed there as well.
He said they are improving accessibility by removing steps and steep elevations from the entrance of the building.
Another significant change to the outside of the building will be the new parking lot reconfiguration and traffic loop. Krummen said the plan is for a traffic loop to go partially in front of the building to provide a better flow for parent drop-off and pick-up. He said they could currently host five to six cars at a time, but that number should double with the new plan.
They would lose 12-20 parking spaces to implement the loop.
“Losing 12 to 20 spots isn’t that big of a deal because it used to be a high school, but now it’s a middle school, and kids don’t drive to middle school,” Krummen said.
Parts of the building are from 1932 to 1971, per Krummen, with some areas, like the restrooms, never undergoing a complete remodel. Part of the project includes a total gut job and reconfiguration of all the restrooms in the school, including new bathroom sinks, fixtures, and toilet partitions.
“We’re pushing 30 years since some of that stuff has been done,” Krummen said. “You’re looking at even longer than that– going back to some of the original parts of the buildings; there hasn’t been any update.”
The last major renovation to the school was in the mid-90s.
Other improvements on the list consist of less noticeable changes to the eye but will improve the experience at the school.
The improvement of indoor air quality is one of those things, according to Krummen.
“We’re replacing every single window on the building except maybe a dozen we’re not,” Krummen said. “Then we’re replacing all the doors, interior and exterior doors, and they all get new hardware. Again, indoor air quality that’s also a safety feature.”
To help increase the building’s energy efficiency, they are replacing some of the boilers used for heating and cooling the school.
The nurse’s station is also being expanded as part of the project, “School in 1961 didn’t have a nurse, so we are making that area a little bit bigger and more sufficient to meet the needs that we need,” Krummen said.
Other new cosmetic works that will be implemented are:
- Masonry
- Sidewalks
- Flooring
Construction began at the middle school on Jan. 7, and Krummen said they expect all projects to be 95 percent complete by December. He said they have monthly meetings to review what has been done and what needs to be done over the next 30 days.
He said this project had been three years in the making—originally slated to begin in February 2020 but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
