School construction underway despite economy
The University's football stadium and the city's Gateway project are not the only construction projects happening in New Brunswick.
The Board of Education, city and state have taken on the construction of a new high school in New Brunswick, a new A.C. Redshaw Elementary school, a renovation of Paul Robeson Elementary School and three new kindergarten centers over the upcoming years, with a total cost of approximately $70 million.
The construction of the new high school has already begun and is moving along as scheduled and is on budget, said Kevin McElroy, spokesman for the School Development Authority, the state group providing the funding for the project.
"The school would serve as a catalyst for rebuilding and redevelopment, and it would serve as a catalyst for the revitalization of the neighborhood," he said. "We're on track to open in September 2010."
The buildings at the site of the new high school were demolished in March 2008, and construction on the foundation started at the same time, said Sarah Clarke, executive vice president of the New Brunswick Development Corporation, the group heading the completion of the new high school.
Even the downturn in the economy will not impede construction, McElroy said.
"We made all the purchases for the project — the construction materials and such — were made prior to the economic downturn, so there will be no impact on the grand price of $185 million," he said.
He said the project actually created jobs to help the economy.
"This project has generated 900 construction jobs so far, and as it's nearing its finish, we'll be bringing in another 300 workers to help finish the project, so overall about 1,200 jobs are going to be created or supported by this project," McElroy said.
In planning for the high school, Devco made sure everything was as cost-effective as possible, Clarke said.
The new high school will be 400,000 square feet and will hold 2,000 students, McElroy said.
Clarke said the new school, located on a 26-acre site on Route 27, is larger than the current high school and was designed to account for growth in the district over the past several years.
The new high school also has a flexible design that allows the high school to have either departmental units or smaller academies, she said.
This will create a smaller, school-within-a-school feeling, which is an important feature in a school that can accommodate 2,000 students, Clarke said.
As one of the School Development Authority's six demonstration projects, the new high school under law had to have two purposes, McElroy said. Besides the district-use of the school, it had to be a part of an overall larger redevelopment plan.
The community can use the four athletic facilities, gymnasiums, auditoriums and common areas after school, giving the school a broader use, McElroy said.
The SDA chose six out of 78 Abbott school districts that applied to be funded for the demonstration projects back in the early 2000s, and New Brunswick was one of them, he said.
While the high school is well underway, the other schools are not under construction now. But there are plans for them to begin construction, said Superintendent of New Brunswick public schools Richard Kaplan.
The scheduled start date for the new Redshaw School, designed by Tectra-Tech, is either the second or third quarter of 2009, with completion in the first quarter of 2011, he said.
The Paul Robeson Elementary School, designed by Potter Architects, is also scheduled for renovation and an addition, Kaplan said.
"That's scheduled for construction the third and fourth quarter of 2009 with a completion date also in the fourth quarter of 2011," he said.
The third elementary building to be built is a kindergarten center located on Samford Street, and designed by Vitetta and Associates, Kaplan said.
"The kindergarten center right now is slated to begin sometime in 2012, with a two-year completion date," he said.
One of the kindergarten centers, a part of the McKinley Community School, has already been open for a year and holds ten classrooms, Kaplan said.
But for the three projects, there have been problems with the funding that has impeded the start of construction, Kaplan said.
"In the Redshaw school, they tore the building down three years ago, and then told us they had no money to build the school, so that's a major impediment," he said.
Kaplan said the state also ran out of money for the Robeson and kindergarten projects.
"Then Gov. [Jon S.] Corzine, went out and solicited the legislature to approve $3.9 billion for new construction," he said.
The delayed construction for the other public schools brings other problems.
"Without having those buildings, it seriously impedes our ability to change our grade pattern and configuration," Kaplan said.
He said when the projects were designed, the board designed to divide the grade school layout from K-8 to three kindergarten schools, first to fifth grade schools and a middle school, which will be located in the old high school building, to keep the students with children of their own age group.
"Once the schools are built, it will provide an opportunity for youngsters to be in state-of-the-art buildings, understanding that many of our schools are over 100 years old, and this will provide them with better access to computer technology," Kaplan said.
