Construction at three Georgetown County schools is moving forward, according to architecture firms working on the projects, but work at one of the schools is a month behind schedule.
Representatives of UWPD Architecture, which is renovating Waccamaw High School, and SGA Architecture, adding to Maryville and McDonald elementary schools, gave presentations at a recent school board meeting.
The total cost of all three projects is more than $8 million.
Lisa Ackerman, director of procurement and special projects for the district, said that the funds used for these capital projects cannot be used for continuing programs or teacher salaries.
For Waccamaw High, the main change will be adding a bigger auditorium, an updated media center and seven classrooms.
The main change for the two elementary schools will be the addition of a new media center and more classrooms at each school.
While construction at Waccamaw High and additions at Maryville Elementary are both going as planned, work being done at McDonald Elementary is running behind schedule, officials said.
Marissa Winship, associate architect for SGA Architecture, said engineers missed crucial information about the school’s sewer system, which happened to be right under the area for the addition.
“We have lost over a month in construction on the project,” Winship said.
The new construction timeline has the media center opening for the 2012-13 school year, but classroom additions will be complete in September or October 2012.
Dr. Randy Dozier, superintendent of Georgetown County schools, said during the meeting that the project at McDonald Elementary will continue on its course.
“Although it is behind schedule, I don’t want to pay a lot of overtime to catch up,” Dozier said. “We will just continue working and finish as quickly as we can.”
Waccamaw High
At Waccamaw High, a new roof has been added to the building and construction of the new auditorium should be complete in 10 weeks, said Steve Usry with UWPD Architecture.
The next steps are the conversion of the main lobby, the conversion of the media center where the former auditorium is and creating seven new classrooms where the current media center is located.
“We will continue working through the summer,” Usry said. “I am confident that the work will be completed by the beginning of next school year.”
The total cost of the project has been estimated at $6.3 million, Usry said.
The project at Maryville Elementary is estimated to cost $1.5 million and the McDonald Elementary project is estimated at $1.3 million, according to Mike Rolison, architect with UWPD Architecture.
Upcoming project
Dozier stated at the board meeting that upgrades to Georgetown High School’s auditorium, gym and career center is “crucial.”
“We feel this needs to be addressed within the budget we have,” Dozier said. “I will present my recommendation at the next meeting.”
That meeting is on Tuesday, February 21, at 5:30 p.m. at the J.B. Beck Administration Building in Georgetown.
By Clayton Stairs
cstairs@gtowntimes.com