Construction continues at W. Babylon High School

by Carolyn James Despite a delay in the delivery of steel for the new auditorium, construction at West Babylon High School is continuing and school officials said last week that the work will not conflict with the opening of school on September 7.

Addressing a question about the construction by resident Dan Joyce at its school board meeting Monday, August 16, School Board President Lucy Campasano said that a delay occurred when the steel for the building was found to be a quarter of an inch off the plans of the district’s architects.

"It seems like only a small difference, but the architect would not sign off on the steel," said Campasano.

Anthony Cacciola, assistant superintendent of finance explained that the architecht’s plans had to reviewed in detail to determine if the steel could be used and that while it was eventually determined that it could, it was "a painstaking task " to reach that conclusion.

Campasano added that when that occurred in late spring, the board took steps, meeting with the contractor and getting a commitment that the steel would be in place by August 15, with the frame work, which utilizes large cranes, completed before Labor Day.

"There is no way we could have that kind of work going on with school in session," said Campasano.

The steel was delivered on the day it was promised and the crew, of up to 70 workers, are now working extended hours and weekends to complete the job. The auditorium should be completed inside and out by January or February of 2006, approximately four to six weeks later than initially promised.

Cacciola outlined the progress of the entire project for the board, saying it was in "good shape.

"There have been rumors that this project is far behind schedule, but that is not the case," said Cacciola who pointed out it has only been a year since the contract was signed. "Our plans were to do the demolition work when school was out this summer, which we have done and if we are behind it is only by about six to 8 weeks."

To date, the work completed includes:

•installation of the glass doorway in the court yard;

•fencing in the south end of the building parking lot and coarse blue stone installed;

•student parking lot blacktopped;

•tennis courts excavated, fence posts and light poles installed;

•all parking lot lighting installed; the softball field has been excavated and the clay is in and the sprinkler system is working.

•fitness center floor chosen and on order; to be installed in two weeks followed by placement of equipment.

In addition, the high school roof is completed, and scaffolding is up and brick restoration on the building is underway. The scaffolding will be taken down when school starts and the remaining work will be done after school hours and on weekends. The bathrooms are almost completed and new sidewalks are completed in the back of the building.

The school will also have an 800,000 watt generator, capable of running the entire school at full capacity. The generator, 40-feet by 12-feet and 14-feet high was included in the construction project as a means of making the high school building an emergency preparedness center.

"This is something that we did for the community," said Superintendent of Schools Mel Noble. "Over the years we have been approached by the American Red Cross about using the high school in emergencies and this will enable us to do that. When you consider that this is the central location for West Babylon, the focal point, it makes that very important for everyone in the community. We hope we never have to use the building for such an emergency, but it’s nice to know it’s there."