hurtling into the 21st century
Over the past several years, Collegiate’s North Mooreland Road site has undergone quite a dramatic facelift.
The metamorphosis of the once-sylvan 55-acre tract has been so pronounced that old-timers visiting their former stomping grounds might think they’ve stepped onto a beautifully landscaped college campus.
New buildings have popped up so quickly, in fact, that even a recent graduate returning after just a couple of years away might be hard pressed to recognize the place.
Collegiate isn’t just wading gingerly into the 21st Century, you see.
It’s hurtling its way there and, thanks to much forethought and the abiding generosity of many who believe in the school and its mission, making the transition quite well.
The go-to guy for all this work, which at times involves upwards of two-dozen general and sub contractor groups, is Scott Carson, who for six years has served as Collegiate’s director of facilities management and construction
His days, which include at least three rounds through the work zone, are long, hectic, and sometimes crazy.
He spends much of his time outdoors amidst the heat, humidity, and ubiquitous dust.
He can hardly walk 10 feet without his phone ringing or someone stopping him to ask a question.
He makes, oh, about a gazillion decisions a day.
One warm late-June afternoon, he gave an update on the work in progress on the north end of campus.
What follows are his thoughts and observations.
- The Sharp Academic Commons, a 26,500-square foot multi-purpose facility.
The building is wrapped and will be ready for our opening event August 22. The air-conditioning is on. We have gas to the building. The water meter’s hooked up. Presently, they’re doing finishes, trim work, painting, electrical work, and various mechanical work.
We’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
- The Reed-Gumenick Library renovation.
It’s well under way. We actually just poured the new concrete slabs for the façade extensions two days ago.
We’re framing on the interior right now, taking the old Reed-Gumenick from a single, large, open space to more of a multi-functional library dedicated primarily to the Middle School.
That’s a fabulous job.
- The new, 125-seat amphitheater on the slope between the library and Flippen Hall.
That’s well underway too. We have to make sure we adequately program that space with outdoor classrooms, performances, special lectures, guest speakers. There’s no telling what we can actually do with a space like that.
I’m just the infrastructure guy. We have so many brilliant people on campus who will be able to program it. Their creativity really allows us to think about new and different ways to use the infrastructure. That’s the key.
- The Middle School/Upper School building swap.
We’re doing interior renovations to the administrative and faculty office spaces in both buildings. We’re also abating asbestos, putting new carpet down, doing some interior framing, reworking the reception countertop spaces, applying new finishes, repainting both buildings. We’re also reworking the lockers and lighting, adding some air conditioning units on the roof to help bring in more fresh air, swapping out the electrical panels to make our power run more efficiently, and adding more window shades.
- The new sidewalks between the science buildings and the classroom buildings and the Reed-Gumenick Library.
We’re altering the nature of our north-south corridor to make our pedestrian space run more efficiently and create more opportunities for outdoor seating, landscaping, and irrigation. We’re also smoothing out walkways and solving a lot of our drainage problems.
- What’s next, once the last crane, bulldozer, and fork lift leave.
Where do I start? When these projects wrap up, we’ll turn our attention to the Student Activities Center. We’ll be renovating that building throughout the fall to add some Middle School classrooms.
Beyond that, we have plans in the South Science Building for the summer of 2014. We’ll relocate college counseling, change up some classrooms, do some work with the technology spaces.
Once the current projects are done, we’ll be planning, designing, and permitting for the work we have in the pipeline.
- About his role in the future of Collegiate.
When I was a consultant, I worked up and down the East Coast and into the Midwest on various projects, primarily athletic facilities. We opened a lot of really great facilities and made a lot of people happy, but on opening day, we’d cut the ribbon and walk away.
I knew that at some point, I’d like to not only cut the ribbon but watch the facility grow.
Collegiate afforded the opportunity to watch a 21st Century campus evolve.
We have a very enlightened Board and administration.
It’s fascinating to watch teachers use the spaces we create, all in support of educating kids.
What cooler job is there than that?
