WV High nears completion

Buses will roll and doors will open for 850 students at West Valley High School a week from today.

People might have their doubts if they drive by the $30 million construction project at 8301 E. Buckeye Ave. An army of welders, painters, glaziers, cement finishers, electricians, plumbers and every other subcontractor you can think of is tripping over itself trying to get the building ready by next week. Project manager and former West Valley Superintendent Dave Smith assured the school board at an August meeting that the building would be ready.

“On the sixth, the buses will have nowhere else to go,” said Smith.

One of the most impressive elements of the renovation, the two-story, glass-enclosed entryway, is completed. Inside the glass is the granite and marble archway preserved from the original 1924 high school, which stood at Trent Avenue and Argonne Road.

There’s no question that the new events gym, locker rooms and band rooms on the north end of the school will be finished.

The school offices and academic wing on the south end will be almost finished.

Construction of the community room, student large room, and strings and music rooms and the renovation of the old gym are ahead of schedule and will be finished by December.

“Some work on the academic wing that runs east and west on Buckeye will be shored up in the evenings,” said Smith. “They won’t be working when the kids are there.”

Smith said that a few ceiling tiles may be missing, some of the casing work may not be completely finished, and it’s unlikely that all of the technology will be working the first couple days back at school.

Some of the construction crews are working 14-hour days, seven days a week to get things done in time.

During a recent meeting with the construction subcontractors, Smith gave them a “pep talk” and let them know that if the school wasn’t ready to open on time, they’d find his body hanging from the school’s archway in the entrance.

“We’re really pushing. I might be hanging by my wrist, but not my neck,” said Smith.

If all goes as planned, they will have an occupancy permit from the city of Spokane Valley on Friday.

Teachers are scheduled to move into their classrooms this weekend, and the school offices will be open and functioning when school begins.

The remaining center portion of the school, including renovation of the present auditorium, new commons, kitchen, art rooms, marketing and DECA store and additional classrooms, will be completed by September 2007.

The construction project is on budget. Skyrocketing building costs haven’t affected the $30 million price tag because in September 2005 the district contracted with Garco Construction Company, locking in the cost of the project.

Earlier this summer Ned Hammond, former Spokane Public Schools facility director and adviser on the West Valley project, told the school board that the project has had less than 1 percent for change orders and overrides, one of the smallest amounts he’s ever seen.

Hammond said this demonstrates good planning, contract negotiations and construction management.