(January 22, 2010) – Building a new school on an occupied campus and just a stone’s throw from an existing school is nothing out of the ordinary for Oak Contracting. In fact, Oak has built or renovated nearly one hundred schools valued well over a billion dollars and a majority of those were in an occupied setting. Building schools and keeping students and faculty safe is an everyday focus of the business. This is also the case for the state of Maryland and its local school systems, who have dedicated staff charged with managing the planning and construction process. However, for a school’s principal, building a new school is usually a once in a lifetime event.
Over three years ago, Joe Voskuhl, principal at Bel Air High School in Harford County, began a new journey in his career – building a brand new $65 million state-of-the-art facility… with a lot of help and leadership from a team of design and construction experts, of course. Joe had taught Social Studies for most of his career at Bel Air High School before being promoted to Assistant Principal. His career as an administrator included three years at Aberdeen High School followed by another three-year assignment to Joppatowne High School prior to becoming principal and moving back to Bel Air in 2004. Just two years into his new role as principal, Joe was tasked with participating in the planning and construction of a new building while continuing to manage and operate the existing school and its programs.
At the onset of the project, Joe was invited to participate in the process by attending Owners and Progress Meetings, which were held on alternating Wednesdays. Having previously attended a few construction meetings while Assistant Principal at Aberdeen High, Joe understood the importance of staying informed and made a commitment to attend the biweekly meetings. Looking back on his decision, he is confident that his involvement played a key part in the overall success of the project.
This first year of the endeavor revolved around planning and design. Scott Eschbach and Tony Nie with Grimm + Parker Architects led the design team’s efforts in developing the plans and drawings for the new school. Joe’s input was imperative to this process as the end user of the facility. He was able to involve Department Chairs and other key stakeholders to ensure the new school was designed to meet the functional needs of the education programs. Scott recalls how Joe “played a vital role during the quarter-scale process” ensuring that his own staff remained informed of their expectations and involvement and controlling how much they were able to input to the layout of their space.
At the same time the new school was being designed, an intense effort was taking place on “how” to get the facility built under the fast-track schedule that had been developed. A feasibility study had previously been conducted identifying ample space behind the existing building for construction of a new school. While the location of the new school seemed rather straightforward, coordinating the activities to make it a reality was more complex. Building on an occupied site always involves an extra level of effort to ensure the existing facility can remain safely operational during construction. For the Bel Air High School project, this meant an early start to the project to relocate utilities away from the building site. Due to the amount of work required, this portion of the project was bid separately as “Phase One” and work was completed in time for the construction of the new school – “Phase Two.”
Segregation of construction activities and school activities was another key focal point for the Bel Air High School project, as well as any project where construction takes place in an occupied setting. This requires clear delineation between the construction site and the existing school. It also involves maintaining adequate egress and coordination of construction access. Maintaining the schools programs is also a monumental task and requires coordination of athletics and other extracurricular activities.
Once the project moved full swing into the construction phase, Joe’s involvement continued to add value to the design and construction team. Joe suggests to others in his position that, “open communication between school administrators and the project team is integral to everyone staying on the same page.”
“Having the principal and the school in the loop on construction activities helps us proactively manage the project and coordinate such activities as power outages,” explains Bob Duh, superintendent of the Bel Air High School project. “Our intent is to minimize disruption to the school, so understanding their schedule of activities is important.” Staying in the loop on construction activities also allowed Joe to keep his students and staff informed of progress as well as parents and the overall community.
In latter phases of the project, when the old school was being removed, certain roads were permanently closed and access from the community to the school was significantly changed. With the assistance of Harford County Public School’s planning and construction supervisor, Chris Morton, Joe kept the community updated on proposed plans and key dates when the changes would occur.
Perhaps the busiest part of the project for Joe and his staff was when the building was complete and ready to occupy. Summer break 2009 wasn’t much of a break at all. As soon as students left on the last day of school, the frenzy of moving to the new school began. The new school was completely fit-out with new furnishings, however, there was still a lot to move from the old facility – books, teaching materials, personal items, etc. And there was a lot more that was being salvaged for use in other schools throughout the county. Joe recalls coming to work one morning at the old school to find he no longer had a desk.
As the school was packed up in preparation for the move, the elevator in the old school literally died. Nothing could be done to fix it. Movers were already lined up and ready to go in order to meet the extremely aggressive move schedule. This presented a major roadblock and seemed almost disastrous at the time. Joe remembers approaching Bob about a possible solution – removing the large window at the end of the second story hallway and using a lift truck to lower items to the main level. The demolition contractor promptly removed the window and installed temporary doors for access and safety. The solution was a winning scenario and helped expedite the move.
The summer “break” remained busy with unpacking and learning the operations of the new building. Numerous training sessions took place to educate end users on the operations of various systems including auditorium lighting, security features, and mechanical operations among many others. Students and staff also spent time chipping mortar off of old bricks from the former school and affixing brass plaques stating “Bel Air High School 1949 – 2009.” The bricks were then sold for $20 apiece ($30 also got your graduating year on the plaque). By mid fall, the school had raised about $5,000 from the sale of bricks. The cornerstone from for the former building was also salvaged and will find a new home at the entrance to the athletic facility at a masonry base supporting a bobcat sculpture.
After a year of planning, two years of construction, and a summer of moving, the new building officially opened its doors to students for the first day of school on August 27, 2009. By mid November the final portion of the old school was torn down and site work was well under way to restore athletic fields. In April 2010 the entire project will be complete with the construction of a new stadium playing field with synthetic turf, concession building, bleachers, and a press box. As a former coach, Joe is especially excited to have sporting events back on home turf. While most replacement projects require sporting events to be “away” for two years, Bel Air had to endure a third year of away games due to site constraints.
Looking back over the past three and a half years, Joe estimates that on average he spent an additional 30% of his time on the new school (more like 60% during the summer move). And he is glad he provided such a high level of commitment to the project and encourages others in his role to do the same. If you ask anyone on the project team, they will all agree that the team’s cohesion and open communication made this project such a success.
Project Team
Chris Morton, Harford County Public Schools Planning & Construction Supervisor
Joe Voskuhl, Bel Air High School Principal
Scott Eschbach, LEED AP, Grimm + Parker Architects
Tony Nie, AIA, LEED AP, Grimm + Parker Architects
Ed Lurz, CCM, LEED AP, Oak Contracting Project Manager
Bob Duh, Oak Contracting Superintendent
Dwaylan Davis, Oak Contracting Assistant Superintendent
Darlene Primus and Michele Eder, Oak Contracting Assistant Project Managers
Project Facts
262,424 SF
$66,699,104
2009-10 Enrollment – 1,430
2010-11 Enrollment – 1,630
State Rated Capacity – 1,668