ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602280090
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Rodney Spencer is hoping for a dry spring so students can return to Roanoke's Stonewall Jackson Middle School next school year.
The construction superintendent says this winter's heavy snow and cold temperatures have jeopardized making the projected completion date for renovation of the 72-year-old school in Southeast Roanoke.
If Jackson isn't finished by September, that could cause the refurbishing of Breckinridge Middle School to be delayed by a year, because its seventh-graders are scheduled to be at Jackson next year.
Breckinridge's sixth-graders will attend James Madison Middle and the eighth-graders will go to William Ruffner Middle while it is closed for renovation. Neither school has room to take the seventh-graders.
If the Breckinridge project is pushed back, that could delay the renovation of Woodrow Wilson and Addison middle schools, Superintendent Wayne Harris said.
Woodrow Wilson is scheduled to be refurbished in 1997-98, and Addison in 1998-99.
A rainy spring could make it difficult to finish Jackson by the opening of school, said Spencer, project superintendent for Nielsen Construction Co., Harrisonburg.
``We still think we can finish it on time. We're doing everything we can, including working on Saturdays,'' Spencer said Monday. ``But if we have a wet spring, it could interfere with the work.''
School officials will meet next month with Nielsen Construction representatives to determine whether the school can be finished on time.
Spencer said the cold has been a bigger problem than the snow because it has delayed masonry work.
Richard Kelley, assistant school superintendent for operations, said the contractor has tried to keep the $5.5 million project on schedule despite the bad weather.
``They're working every Saturday they can, but we aren't ready to say definitely it will be ready,'' Kelley said. ``Now it's touch and go.''
Spencer said he hasn't given up on completing the project so it can open this fall. Painting and some other work could be finished after school opens, he said.
Nielsen was also the contractor for renovation of Wasena Elementary School, which opened on time last fall despite some parents' fears that it would not.
Workers finished the project after school opened.
Jackson's sixth-graders are attending Breckinridge this year.
Its seventh-graders are going to William Ruffner, and the eighth-graders are attending Addison.
Work on the Jackson project began with last year's summer break.
The contractor had to raze the classroom building because architects said it could not be renovated to meet the needs of a modern middle school.
The building had load-bearing walls that could not be moved to create smaller rooms. It also had high ceilings and wasted space that could not have been corrected by renovation, architects said.
The school's cafeteria and gymnasium are being renovated.
Some Southeast Roanoke residents opposed the razing because they said the neighborhood would lose part of its architecture and history.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. If Roanoke's Stonewall Jacksonby CNBMiddle School can't open in September because of construction
setbacks, then the refurbishing of Breckinridge Middle School could
be delayed by a year. color.