Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 6, 1995 TAG: 9509060077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When G.W. Carver Elementary School pupils returned to class Tuesday, things looked a lot different.
About a third of their old school building in Salem - including the cafeteria - had been torn down. And behind the school were nine trailers acting as temporary classrooms for most of the students.
But as the dust settled from the mixture of construction work and hundreds of feet trotting from school buses, most students openly accepted the changes.
The first phase of renovations at the 56-year-old school is well under way, with a completion date set for next summer, said John Mason, project manager for the school's contractor, Avis Construction Co. Inc. of Roanoke.
A portion of the old school is gone, awaiting construction of a new annex, which will include a cafeteria, library and learning center and lots of extra classroom space.
But while construction continues, so do classes.
And the new classes for second- through fifth-graders at G.W. Carver - at least for the year - are in the nine double-wide mobile homes, linked by a maze of walkways.
Eight of the mobile units hold two classrooms each; one has been turned into a workroom.
Most of the teachers were impressed by the accommodations.
But what about the students?
"It's cool" was the consensus of a class of fifth-graders on their way to the playground.
That popular adjective had two meanings to the pupils Tuesday, especially to the veterans of the old building, which had no air conditioning.
Some of the pupils in Christy Crotts' fifth-grade class liked the air-conditioned trailers so much that they wouldn't mind if they became a permanent fixture.
"I'm not going to want to go to Andrew Lewis [Middle School] next year," Matthew Giles said.
"The rooms are bigger," Cara Moser said. "All of the other schools are going to be jealous."
But not everyone appreciated the cooler mobile units.
"It's too cold in here," said Josh Camden, rubbing his arms.
Another child said she didn't like the trek to the old building, where the pupils go to a makeshift cafeteria.
Those remaining in the old school building - kindergartners, first-graders and much of the school's administration - seemed a little jealous.
"We're kind of disappointed we didn't get to move out there," said Diane Washenberger, the school's principal.
Even the old building was given some relief from the heat. Window units cooled individual classrooms and offices.
But the hallways remained hot as classroom and office doors stayed shut to keep the cool air in.
The hallways would have been cooler, Washenberger said, but a ventilation unit from the roof has yet to be hooked up.
Overall, Washenberger said, the first day with the new accommodations was a success.
"We went ahead and made real deliberate moves to make it comfortable," she said.
The trailers also bring other advantages, she said. Students will have easy access to outdoor projects such as a weather station one teacher hopes to build.
As for next year, Washenberger said she hopes to abandon the remainder of the old building and move most of the students into the new one.
"I don't anticipate we'll need [all of the trailers] next year," she said.
Construction should be done by December 1996, Mason said.
The remaining structure will be gutted next summer, but the face of the school will be kept.
The $6.1 million project will consist of about 84,000 square feet, almost twice as much as the previous structure, Mason said.
by CNB