Summer work improves school buildings

One of the projects taking place in the Wayne-Westland School District this summer is a new entrance at Wayne Memorial High School.

Although students in the Wayne-Westland Community Schools have been on summer vacation for nearly two months, efforts to improve district buildings are in full swing.

“The work began shortly after school let out,” said Gary Martin, deputy superintendent of administration and business services for the schools.

Outside contractors are brought in by the district to take care of a few of the large-scale tasks while district staff deals with basic repairs and improvements.

This year, contractors have been brought in to accomplish two complex tasks: an addition to the Wayne Memorial High School gymnasium and the installation of an elevator at Hicks Elementary School in Inkster. Both projects will be funded primarily through sinking fund revenue—money generated by a 1-mill tax approved by voters three years ago. The millage is scheduled to continue for seven years.

The Wayne Memorial expansion, which is expected to add more than 12,000 square feet to the existing Alumni Arena, is valued at more than $4 million. The project will add a full-size gymnasium, fitness center, practice areas, and a number of other features to the existing facility. The new facilities are expected to become fully operational in the spring of 2007. The ongoing construction is not expected to impact the students in any way during the upcoming school year.

According to Gregory Baracy, superintendent of the Wayne-Westland Community School District, the renovations were necessary.

He said the high schools—originally built to accommodate grades 10-12—are now being stretched to handle several hundred additional students because of the move to send ninth grade students into the high schools.

Beyond that, however, Baracy said that the buildings do not have enough space to meet the needs of the students—from the youths who are enrolled in physical education classes to the student athletes to the myriad of other student groups and organizations that try to use gym time.

With a proposal to alter the high school sports schedules to have both genders compete in a given sport during the same period, Baracy said that the situation could become even trickier as even more groups are added into the mix.

“We don’t have adequate playing surfaces for them,” he said.

Baracy said that the expansion of the athletic facilities at the two high schools is designed to alleviate the supply-and-demand problem that frequently has the existing gyms booked until 10 p.m. or later and on weekend as groups ranging from athletic teams to dance clubs try to squeeze in their practices, programs, rehearsals, and activities.

The new elevator at Hicks Elementary School, meanwhile, is designed to give students with physical challenges access to the upper level of the school. According to Martin, the undertaking is expected to cost about $300,000.

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Copyright © 2006 Journal Newspapers. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2006 Journal Newspapers. All rights reserved.