West View Elementary renovation enters second phase

West View Elementary School is getting a facelift with the goal of creating a building that is more energy efficient and sustainable for the future.

This includes the roof — part of which will be a “green” roof with live plants — all utilities (plumbing, electrical and sewer) and the school kitchen.

Construction began last summer. Phase I of the project, which includes new windows, new boilers and refurbishing of the masonry, has been completed.

Mike Arnold, vice president at SitelogIQ, the construction management and design firm overseeing the renovation of the nearly 100-year-old building, gave a brief update on the project at the Feb. 16 school board meeting.

Phase II began in February.

“We would encourage, as we move through the project, to possibly have tours with the board so we can show you the progress. It’s always good to see that first hand, especially as issues may come up,” Arnold, program executive for the West View project, said.

Director of construction Roshelle Fennell and new project manager Shane Kelly, who are both with SitelogIQ, were also in attendance at the meeting. Kelly pointed out how they have been able to proceed with construction while children continue to attend classes in the building.

“To begin construction, we set up temporary barriers throughout the building and around the site to create a level of separation between construction as well as your active students and staff,” Kelly said. “So far, that’s been very effective. There’s been little to no complaints at this point, which is a good start.”

Kelly said the only major activity going on right now is demolition.

”That has begun in the main area, where we’re adding the addition to the building,” Kelly said. “We’re working through that space demolishing it. Over the coming weeks, a lot more work is going to begin — foundation, structural components, etc.”

The building was built in 1925 as a junior high school. An addition was completed in 1939 to add grades 10, 11 and 12.

The building has been in need of repair; it was built into a hillside and over time water had found its way into the back side of the building, according to West View Elementary principal Jesse Simpson. The original drains from the old part of the building were corroded and leaky, he said. The roof also leaked and needed to be replaced, Simpson said.

“We needed a long-term fix for that and we knew the building needed to have repairs done on that hillside side of the building,” he said. “We also wanted to be able to create a building that fit the needs of modern education, where we had enough classrooms but also enough places for all of our specialized services to be able to assist students — small group instruction rooms, office areas for outside agencies such as mental health and occupational therapy, physical therapy — dedicated locations for those individuals so they could do their job properly.”

The total cost of the renovation is $39.8 million. The renovation includes a reconfiguring of the building, which has undergone several facelifts through the years resulting in a choppy layout that’s hard to navigate.

A new front addition will create a central entrance and stairway.

It’s estimated the renovation will be completed in time for the start of the 2025-26 school year, which marks the building’s 100th anniversary.