Renovations, projects scheduled for MBS facilities
School is out, which means the affiliated buildings will be mostly empty and primed for renovations.
Facilities Director Tommy Prewitt said each school has a list of updates to be completed, but two are considered the bigger project for the summer: a new Ranger Park at Brookwood Forest Elementary and increasing security measures at all facilities.
Spearheaded by the BWF PTO, the new Ranger Park will be built within the existing playground’s footprint, adjacent to the nearby community soccer fields, according to a packet presented at a Mountain Brook City Council meeting March 12. The new park will include expanded sports courts, sensory and music play, a mini amphitheater, a rain garden, a multipurpose pavilion, climbing structures and more, the packet said.
Prewitt said the estimated total cost of the project is $350,000 and is expected to be completed by Aug. 1.
Security upgrades also are scheduled to be finished by the start of the 2018-19 school year, although Prewitt said some were started before summer. The video surveillance systems that are currently in place at the high school and junior high will be upgraded and video systems will be installed at all elementary schools.
“None of the elementary schools had video before,” Prewitt said.
All schools will have intercoms at the entrances to buzz visitors into the schools, as well as a card-reader system. Prewitt said the readers will provide faculty and staff entry into school facilities.
Although there are many projects that are slated for the schools, he said upgrading the security system is probably the most complicated.
“There’s just a lot of moving parts and pieces in doing it correctly,” he said.
Director of Parks and Recreation Shanda Williams said they are working on the elementary school restrooms, too, at both Crestline Elementary and Mountain Brook Elementary. She said they are in the process of putting together bid specifications for the one at CES.
The most recent bids for the MBE restroom were rejected at the City Council meeting May 14 due to high estimates, and Williams said they are looking at different locations on the site to construct the restroom.
Although the restrooms may be delayed, Williams said she still expects them to be completed this year.
Other renovations include:
Brookwood Forest
► Repaving a portion of the parking lot
► Miscellaneous painting and otherstandard maintenance
Cherokee Bend
► Removing old HVAC units in rooms that received new units last summer
► Installing new PTO-funded furniture in some rooms
► Miscellaneous painting
Crestline Elementary
► Installing new flooring in areas throughout the school
► Miscellaneous painting
Mountain Brook Elementary
► Installing new flooring in five classrooms
► Adding sun shades to six classrooms
► Miscellaneous painting
Mountain Brook Junior High
► Replacing the roof on the competition gym and half of the three-story classroom wing
Mountain Brook High School
► Replacing the roof of the science wing
► Repair parts of the concrete courtyard behind the Spartan Arena
► Replace some bleacher seats in the Spartan Arena
While the new Ranger Park and increased security measures are broader projects, Prewitt said the three sections of new roofing — two on MBJH and one on MBHS — will be the more expensive item on their to-do list.
“When roofing projects come up, that kind of causes us to have to defer things that we normally would have done just because you’ve got to have a water-tight roof,” he said. “It affects it a little bit when you have roofs to do. That becomes priority.”
One of the projects they had to defer were new ceiling tiles, lights and cabinetry in some areas of Crestline Elementary, Prewitt said. The bids for the roofs will most like be sent out in early June, he said, and he’s hoping they come back showing all three projects under $450,000.
Other project pricing estimates include around $30,000 for the new bleacher seats, $20,000 for new flooring at Mountain Brook Elementary and $30,000 for parking lot paving at Brookwood Forest.
Prewitt said all schools have some degree of repairs to make on their sidewalks, too. They have contracted a company the city frequently uses for repairs, Precision Concrete Cutting, and they offer limited intrusion options.
“Instead of tearing out sidewalks that might have settled a little bit, they will grind it … to make that transition smooth to meet ADA code,” Prewitt said. “Every site has something to do regarding that.”
All projects are expected to be finished in time for the start of school this fall.