Friday, September 26, 2003
For information on any of the school projects, visit youngstownschools.com.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- As her braids danced and the wind threatened to steal her white, plastic hard hat, Monique Jordan sunk the shovel into the wet ground and turned dirt.
And then she turned some more.
"You can't build the building yet, girl," said her mother, Gwendolyn Sledge, snapping photos.
Monique shrugged, smiled and waved at the camera.
The sixth-grade girl was among the 10 West Elementary School pupils who were bussed from their school Tuesday morning -- about one-half mile south -- to what will become the new West Elementary School.
About the project
Groundbreaking for the new two-story school, to be built at the intersection of South Schenley Avenue and Junction Street, was Tuesday. The new school is part of the district's $182 million school facilities improvement project, funded 80 percent by the state and 20 percent through a local tax measure.
School Superintendent Benjamin L. McGee thanked community members for their support of a bond levy that made the project possible. He also asked them to hope for a mild winter; as officials would like to open the school next fall.
West, at a cost of $12.8 million, will be the largest of the new elementary schools, at 95,000 square feet, accommodating 825 kindergarten through fourth-grade pupils. The school will draw pupils from the current West Martin Luther King Jr. schools and possibly the Kirkmere school.
An eight-acre site size for the school was expanded to 11 acres, as a result of a collaboration through which the city deeded land to the district; the Schenley Park playground will be relocated behind the school.
In all, plans are to build four new elementary schools, a new middle school and a new high school. The remaining 10 schools will receive renovations and/or additions. See updates at www.youngstownschools.com.
Lining up
At the groundbreaking, youngsters stood alongside principal Sandy Kelty and other school staff and administrators, each holding a golden shovel.
The principal has been an educator and administrator in the district for almost 25 years, this is her fourth year at West.
"I wouldn't be anywhere else," she said.
The Ohio School Facilities Commission spends roughly $2 million per day on schools across the state, said Steven L. Ludwinski, senior project manager at Heery International Inc., the group that manages the entire construction project.
"We're here in Youngstown trying to do the same thing for Youngstown," he said. "It's all about the future for your city, the kids ... and how they're going to grow."
Architects for the West project are the Ralph Tyler Cos. and the Architectural Vision Group Ltd. firms, both of Cleveland.
Andrejs K. Smiltars, vice president/director of design for AVG, called the new school, which will feature computer labs and state-of-the-art technology, "the start of the dawning of a new age for Youngstown."
"This project is not about us. It's about you, the children of West Elementary," he added.