By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer
(Feb. 27, 2020) The 16th update regarding the construction of the new Showell Elementary School provided insight on current projects for the school during the monthly Worcester County Public Schools Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Photo courtesy Joe Price
This aerial view of the new Showell Elementary School shows how much progress has been made since work began 16 months ago.
Facilities Planner Joe Price and Assistant Manager Danny Rosas, who was filling in for Oak Project Manager Bill Moschler, shared the most recent process performed during construction.
Within the past 30 days, completed work included canopy footing, adding masonry exteriors, placing exterior stud framing and sheathing, installing vapor barriers on walls, adding quarry tile and setting in electrical switchgear.
Several tasks are currently being worked on this month, including interior walls, adding door frames, casework, roofing, metal panels, adding windows, ceramic tiles, flooring, carpet, primer paint, adding mechanical equipment, plumbing rough in, sprinkler heads, ductwork, insulation, light fixtures and installing fire alarm devices.
Once this work is completed, progress is expected to begin in the next 30 days on adding doors, marker and tack boards, kitchen equipment and plumbing fixtures.
More importantly, according to Price and Rosas, construction has become so efficient that the school could start moving boxes and other items from the old school as soon as April.
“The new school is scheduled to be substantially completed in late April,” Price said. “This means that, providing we receive County Fire Marshall approval, we can begin moving boxes from the existing school into the new school in late April/early May.
“When we developed the project schedule back in 2018, we had scheduled installation of the new furniture to begin on July 6,” he continued. “Given the progress Oak Contracting and our contractors have made on the building, we determined that the April substantial completion date is realistic and we changed the furniture installation to begin on May 23.”
The board was moved to applause with this information, with Superintendent of Schools Lou Taylor personally thanking the men for their hard work.
“I want to thank you all for doing this,” Taylor said. “Showell school is a quality-built school that still has a lot of characteristics that make Worcester County Schools set apart from others.”
The new 9,600-square-foot building will replace the current 5,200-square-foot school, and will eliminate the need for the nine portable classrooms currently in use.
At present, the 40-year-old school has 536 students from kindergarten through third grade. Fourth graders, who were moved out of the building because of insufficient spaces, will return once the $47 million school opens
The school is expected to accept over 130 new students once it is open for the 2020-2021 school year in September.