By Joe Olenick
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal
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It could be said a new school year is a time to build something new. The school districts of Lockport and Royalton-Hartland are taking that literally.
Both districts are in the middle of capital construction projects, although Roy-Hart is finishing its first phase. That phase is a 10-classroom wing that was constructed on the elementary school in Gasport. The phase is nearing completion, and the district will be hosting an open house for the wing Thursday.
The wing will be leased to the Orleans/Niagara Board of Cooperative Educational Services.
“BOCES has been moving in, the last few days,” Superintendent Kevin MacDonald said. “Tuesday, it’ll be ready for the kids.”
Roy-Hart’s $8.3 million capital project was approved by voters in January 2008. The second phase, which is a series of upgrades and improvements made to the schools, is in the final stage of review by the state education department, MacDonald said.
Lockport’s project is an extreme makeover of the high school. The $23.5 million plan calls for a new performing arts center, an art gallery, a fitness center for gym classes and a six-classroom addition. New windows and bleachers will be added, as well as new padding in the gymnasium. The school will also add an elevator, and bathrooms will be made handicap-accessible. The technology wing also will be updated, the library renovated to make room for a computer lab and bathrooms would be added nearby.
Other improvements include relocating the Locust Street bus loop — a parent drop-off site on Lincoln Avenue — and improvements to ventilation and mechanical systems. The project is on track to be completed by Sept. 1, 2011.
But that means for the start of school Tuesday, at least for the times students arrive at 7:40 a.m. and leave at 2:15 p.m., there will be some congestion around the Lincoln Avenue school. The Locust Street entrance is not ready, which the district had planned for, so the buses will drop off and pick up students on Lincoln Avenue. The completed Lincoln Avenue entrance is where parents would normally drop off and pick up kids.
The Locust Street entrance is expected to be done by early October, which is when the buses will go back to picking up and dropping off kids there. Principal Frank Movalli said the interior work is done, posing no other challenges for students.
“The areas have been contained and separated from the student population,” Movalli said.
Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.
