The Observation Deck

School Update!


This week I will be going on a tour of the new schools with Superintendent Dr. David Estrop and members of the School Board.

If we remember, The Superintendent made promises for completion.

Stay tuned for the update with photos!


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Can't wait. My oldest is supposed to move in to Emerson this year for the special needs class. We are hoping it is done.

I took a tour of the buildings today with Mayor FitzGerald, Superintendent Estrop, Treasurer Berdine, and Lakewood Resident Jim O'Bryan.

A lot of work has been done, and the progress looks great. But, a lot more will need to be done to meet the Superintendent's promises, which can be viewed by clicking here.

The Mayor and the City have been very helpful in working with the Lakewood City Schools throughout these building projects. Thank you!

Matt

It was a good tour, and the work is amazing. I thought the mayor was pretty up on construction as well, and we had a nice conversation between poitns of interest.

However

"To the People of Lakewood:

We, the undersigned, hereby publicly commit to have Emerson and Horace Mann Elementary Schools open on or before Thursday, August 21, 2008.

The letter was signed by Superintendent David C. Estrop; school district Treasurer Richard Berdine; Blaze Building Corporation President Ferris Kleem; Castle Heating and Air, Inc. President Mark Boucher; Gateway Electric Company President Rajinder Singh; John F. Gallagher Company Vice President Pat Gallagher; Steingass Mechanical Company Vice President Al Lesure; URS Corporation Construction Administrator Stephen Kapp; and from Regency/Turner Construction Services John Sanner, Mark Dent, and Robert Teitenberg.

Estrop said, “While the projects are behind the original schedules, the major players wanted the People of Lakewood to know that they were committed to having these two projects completed on or before August 21, 2008, and were willing to make such a personal commitment in writing to the community.â€￾"

Will be nearly impossible to complete on time. I heard one of the supervisors mention they have crews of 85 working on it. But I know the last elevator to go in took 7 weeks, and they just started on the one at Horace Mann.

Still a great effort on a schedule that has to be crazy at best.

My old alma mater Horace Mann was nearly unrecognizable from the inside. Of course some of that could be age, or the 60s and 70s.

One thing I like about Lakewood is residents that are not afraid to back and fund things like this, the library, and the community.

Thanks to all for the tour. Photos online shortly.


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The group that included Mayor Edward FitzGerald, Superintendent Dr. David Estrop, School Board member Matthew Markling, School Treasurer Rick Berdine head up the steps into Horace Mann.




Much work and cleaning to do. However the school was changed so much I did not recognize it any longer.




Basement hallway.




Now that I remembered.




Mayor Edward FitzGerlad, Superintendent Dr. David Estrop, and School Board member Matthew Markling stand in front of the original relief of Horace Mann. Off to Emerson.




The wide hallways of Emerson.




A lot of work being done.




The air recycling unit.




The gymnasium.


For more photos, of the tour go to:

http://lakewoodobserver.com/photoblogs/ ... -july-2008


I would like to thank Superintendent Dr. David Estrop for the invite, and thank everyone involved in this project from the School Board, and City Hall to the workers to the tax-payers.

They will be very nice, and make Lakewood an even nicer place to live, work and raise a family.


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the pictures are awesome. thank you for posting them. you made two kids very excited here.....

Thanks for the pictures. I'm looking forward to the schools opening!

It was truly just after dawn on a sleet filled Saturday in early December 2002. To this point, the recently formed Fifty Year Citizens Committee had amassed and studied a large amount of "data". It was now time for a field experience and we were tromping through Emerson (as the 2nd of 10 school visits to be made that day) when within the group the idea surfaced that maybe we should not limit ourselves to thinking of Emerson and Horace Mann of middle school facilities and maybe...just maybe we should consider them as elementary school facility candidates!??

What seems to make so much sense now was not that obvious at the time. Until this point no one (the BOE, the administration, the State, the committee) had even contemplated this option.

In my view, this was probably the most defining moment in the entire school review and planning effort by the community.

As hard as it may be to believe, a simple walk down a single hallway by 15-20 people generated a multitude of new considerations and concepts. From this idea sprang Garfield as a middle school conversion candidate and the concept of building the new middle schools first to minimize (as best as possible) student educational disruption. It allowed the community to permanently decommision sites (Taft and McKinley) that held a higher development and monetary return for the taxpayer. It gave us justification to renovate (vs. build new) far more schools in the plan than the State would have preferred thereby retaining much of Lakewood's architecural character.

Everyone within the group was contributing during this perfect storm of idea generation. Needless to say by the time we collectively reached the end of that single hallway, so many pieces for the plan fell into place as a result of this simple twist on traditional thinking.

Thanks to the people that did not hit the snooze button that morning and were there that day!

Personally, it is gratifying to see pictures of the new Horace Mann and Emerson ELEMENTARY Schools. Thanks Jim!

Knowing the impetus Emerson and Horace Mann have played in one of the most ambitious projects in Lakewood's history may be something that most citizens are unaware.

Jay

Thank you for the look back, and the work you and the committee did looking forward. While at times I wondered the sense of the new schools. As I have watched them go up and seen how these schools will keep Lakewood not just up to date by ahead of the technology curve i have learned it was an incredible vision and undertaking.

I was as amazed at the updates at Horace Mann and Emerson, as I was at Harrison, Harding, Garfield and Roosevelt. The construction manager was speaking of many things, but one stood out. Lakewood has put enough rebar into the schools to go across the USA twice or more. He could not even hazard a guess on miles of wiring. In the end the wiring is what is most amazing to me. Watching them work on trays of wires the thickness of tree trunk that include every of connection one needs now, and the ability to quickly change and update in the future is staggering.

The updates of everything from lighting to room size, the state of the art kitchen equipment that can produce healthy meals, shows just how much planning and thought went into it.

Then there is the attention to architectural details. Little things that make what could be sterile buildings into interesting habitats for learning. Is another wonderful feature in each and every building. Leaving one wondering what is around every turn.

As I went through Horace Mann, I kept thinking how fitting that Horace Mann was saved and rebuilt. The father and innovator of the modern school systems would be very proud and pleased at what he would find if he were to walk through. It was Horace Mann that thought separate classes for each grade was needed, that flogging students was wrong, longer school hours, more diverse curriculum, higher pay for teachers, and the best equipment possible for teachers to use and students to benefit from.

The project was grand, it was visionary and now it is delivered to the people and students of Lakewood.

Jay thank you for your hard work on this, thank you to the school board, superintendents Joe Maduk and Dave Estrop, and a huge thank you to the residents of Lakewood that dug into their pockets and made miracles happen. A proud and defining moment for Lakewood is but days away.


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