7 of 8 Vestavia Hills schools to see renovations
Seven of the eight schools within the Vestavia Hills city system are scheduled for building upgrades in a broad project that will span the next three years.
The individual renovations range in estimated cost from $500,000 for baseball field turf replacement to $20.1 million for building additions. The estimated overall total is $65 million.
According to Sheila Phillips, city schools superintendent, the overall project has been under discussion for more than 1½ years via public forums and school board meetings. The firms of Lathan Associates Architects, P.C. and Hoar Program Management worked together to develop the plan.
“First we identified the schools’ needs then, knowing our concerns, the two firms came together to also assess the needs and propose a plan,” Phillips said.
“While we’re seeking to secure bond monies, the board has maintained a healthy reserve because we knew these renovations had to occur.”
Each individual project will come up for school board approval at the time of its bid date and any project not bid out or underway is subject to change, Phillips said. Liberty Park Middle is the only school not affected by the renovation plans, Phillips said.
“It’s our newest school and has unused space while all others are at textbook capacity,” she said. “But at some point all students will benefit from the changes, even at Liberty Park Middle.”
The school renovation projects in order of bid dates:
Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park
A 14-classroom and storage area addition got underway in March and is scheduled for completion in March 2017. Williford Orman Construction won the bid, which includes some new cafeteria seating, at $4.25 million.
Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights
The construction of a new gym was let for bid March 17, and officials are anticipating a May 1 start and completion in spring 2017.
According to Shawn Calma, Lathan Associates Architects’ vice president, the gym will feature a presentation platform and will be a “simple” addition to the building. The new gym is part of a multiphase project for the school and when complete, the old gym will be taken down and new classrooms and a media center will take its place.
The overall project’s estimated cost is $11.6 million.
Vestavia Hills High School
Reconfiguration of traffic flow along Lime Rock Road plus repaving and tweaks to the parking lot closest to the school are planned. Proposed changes include improvements to crossing areas and entryways and the addition of turn and drop-off lanes inside the parking lot.
Bids were let in March, and work is scheduled to begin in May and completed in August. The estimated total cost is $1.7 million. Bids for the replacement of the high school baseball field turf are scheduled to be let in July. The replacement is set to begin in September and finished in November at an estimated cost of $500,000.
Vestavia Hills Elementary Central
A two-year project set to begin next spring includes a new kitchen/cafeteria, gym and parking deck plus the renovation of the existing gym into classrooms. The schedule calls for an April 2017 bid letting with a construction start-up in May 2017 and completion in June 2019.
The overall project, estimated to cost $20.1 million, comes with a “challenging” site, Calma said. “Central has a lot of grade differences and is very hilly, which will require more coordination with school staff and administration during construction,” he said.
Vestavia Hills Elementary East
Bid letting is planned for May for a project that includes a new cafeteria and adaption of the old into four classrooms. Construction is scheduled to begin in June and completed in June 2017 at an overall estimated cost of $5.04 million.
Louis Pizitz Middle School
The first of a dual-phased project includes a cafeteria and kitchen renovation that will be let for bid in May and is scheduled to be completed in July. The second phase, done concurrently, will be interior corridors and gym renovations that will entail new finishes, paint, ceiling tiles and lighting. The estimated overall cost is $3.15 million.
Vestavia Hills Elementary West
Bidding for construction of an eight-classroom addition and new kitchen/cafeteria is scheduled for September with a start-up planned for November. The current cafeteria will be subdivided into classrooms as part of a second phase of the renovation that also includes renovation of the media center and multi-needs room.
Estimated cost of the overall project is $7.3 million.
Calma is overseeing the multi-school project and said everyone involved in the master plan has worked to maintain a “holistic” mindset.
“Dr. Phillips has a very progressive view of how we look at the system as just that — a system — and not one individual school,” Calma said. “I make the analogy of moving a chess piece at one school after determining how that move will affect the others.”
Phillips said she’s grateful for the patience she knows the community will show as the project moves forward. “While this is a major undertaking that will require a lot of planning and flexibility on everyone’s part, it’s definitely a positive that our students, their families, and our teachers deserve,” she said.