Schools Façade Increasingly Precarious... Monroe, LA The metal bolt anchoring system that holds the facade to the structure at Neville High School is failing and large chunks of concrete are wedged precariously in several locations around the school. At least one has already fallen. The 83-year-old school, a community landmark that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is in desperate need of repair before the building deteriorates further or another piece of concrete falls. Monroe City School Board members, Neville Principal Whitney Martin and members of the community heard from architects proposing fixes in a facilities committee meeting on Monday. Martin asked the question all were wondering. “Until this work is done, are the human beings on campus in any jeopardy at this point?” Martin asked architect Tim Brandon. “I would have to say there is no certainty of the stone condition, and at any time any kind of strong weather, any kind of situation, could drop a stone,” he said. “The heaviest stone that we calculated weighs about 1,000 pounds.” Martin said architects who have looked at the school earlier this year believe the facade is farther away from the building than it was at the time that they looked. “I think that with the severity of the winter weather, the distance has increased somewhat,” she said. “I think it adds some urgency to what we were already feeling was an emergency.” Three architects made presentations — TBA Studio, Space Planners and Architecture Associates. Brandon, representing TBA Studio, estimated costs for the extensive repairs at about $4 million with a large sum set aside for contingencies. Space Planners estimated about $2 million and Architecture Associates said they could not estimate without further exploration. Brandon detailed repairs that would need to be made to the roof, the installation of additional drains, the plumbing — there is copper pipe disintegrating in the walls and the ceiling — possible removal of asbestos that could be in the ceilings and on the pipes. “I’m really concerned about the safety — when you’ve got bricks and stone pulling away from the building,” board member Vickie Krutzer said. “After seeing these pictures about the looseness of the bricks and stones, ... we probably need to get started on this quickly before something serious happens,” Board President Clarence Sharp said. The committee recessed its meeting after two hours and will reconvene at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Before beginning work or further study, the committee must select an architect to recommend to the board, and the board must approve the architect. After an architect is hired, plans will be drawn and submitted to the state fire marshal for approval. After approval, a request for contractor bids will be made. The time from choosing the architect to beginning work on the building will likely be five to six months. The restoration is expected to take another year. A property tax approved in November will pay for the restoration. The tax is expected to generate about $58 million. In early cost estimations, $17.7 million of that money was going toward projects at Neville, Carroll and Wossman high schools. A large portion of the money will go toward athletic improvements. In the facilities committee meeting, board members also learned that about $9 million of the money will be spent on artificial turf for football fields and new tracks for each high school. Despite the cost of the Neville project, Superintendent Brent Vidrine said the restoration is well worth it. “If you were to try to rebuild Neville High School today, it would cost more than $40 million,” he said. “The building is efficient and technologically up to date. What it needs now is repair to the outside structure.”
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 00:35:59 +0000
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