THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Friday, September 8, 1995 TAG: 9509070187 SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL TYPE: Cover Story SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
WITH FOUR DAYS remaining before the first students arrive, work continues today at a feverish pace inside Celebration Station, a former discount shopping mall being converted into a temporary home for displaced Princess Anne High School students.
Rarely has the school system been faced with such a daunting logistical task.
In less than two weeks since the high school was damaged by fire, the system must transform a former shopping mall designed to sell clothing and household items into a school capable of holding classes for roughly 1,500 students and their teachers.
The list of equipment and supplies needed for the job is immense. Desks, chairs, chalkboards, copy and facsimile machines, partitions to divide space into ``classrooms,'' paper, telephones, telephone lines, signs, computers for students, computer networks for administrators, books for a library, books for classes. The list goes on.
Teaching schedules had to be reset. So did students' schedules. Buses were rerouted. Signs had to be made to advise motorists on Virginia Beach Boulevard that they were nearing a school zone.
``What makes the problem so large is that we're on a very short time frame in our efforts to get the students in school,'' said Anne Meek, assistant superintendent for organizational support. ``Otherwise, it's the kind of thing we do every day. We know how to open a school, how to open portable classrooms, how to assign classrooms. But we're operating under very difficult circumstances.''
While the school system is making every effort to make the building look like a school, they are not exactly starting from scratch.
Since 1992, the building has housed some school system functions, including a literacy center, some operational offices and the Adult Learning Center. Still, many of the basic amenities will be missing. The converted building will not have a cafeteria, although it will likely have a series of vending machines to meet basic nutritional needs and desires for snacks.
``Would you want 1,500 teenagers at your place without food?'' Meek said.
The temporary quarters will not have lockers either, so students will be encouraged to carry book bags because there will be no storage space.
By early in the week, some of the badly needed furniture was already in hand. Kempsville and Bayside high schools donated about 400 student desks, while Lynnhaven Middle School, which is undergoing renovation, pitched in with another 350 desks.
When students arrive Tuesday, many will find the walls covered with a fresh coat of paint, hurriedly applied by a small platoon of school system painters who began touching up walls Wednesday with sprayers.
Moving the students to Celebration Station was not a foregone conclusion. Interim Superintendent James L. Pughsley said that in initial discussions, the administration looked at two options for housing kids: Celebration Station or another high school that would be rescheduled for double sessions.
The latter was ruled out because the administration didn't want to adversely affect two different communities. It also was apparent that there was enough room at Celebration Station and in the undamaged facilities at Princess Anne High School.
``Celebration Station was the right thing to do at the right time,'' Pughsley said. Keeping staff and students as united as possible was another consideration, he added.
Once the decision was made, the school system immediately pulled out blueprints of the 129,000-square foot building and, with the help of HBA, an architectural and interior design company, began dividing up the cavernous space inside Celebration Station.
Ron Lehnus, an HBA worker who was working in the building on Wednesday, said Celebration Station has some inherent advantages.
``We won't have to make any permanent changes to the building,'' he said, adding there are enough exits to meet fire codes and toilets to meet sanitary standards, even for a high school.
``It has sprinklers, alarms, it's built of non-flammable materials. It's a very safe structure,'' Lehnus said.
But whatever advantage the building may present to the situation, the one thing they desperately need more of is time. It's the biggest obstacle facing planners, he said.
John Curtin, an assistant principal at Princess Anne, was nonetheless optimistic about meeting the opening deadline.
``I don't think the parents would like their children to miss more than a week of school,'' he said. MEMO: [For a related story, see page 11 of The Beacon for this date.]
ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
TEMPORARY HOME
[Color] Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
When students arrive Tuesday, they will find the walls covered with
a fresh coat of paint, hurriedly applied by a small platoon of
school system painters who began spray-painting on Wednesday.
MEETING TONIGHT
Parents and students of Princess Anne High School are encouraged
to attend an informational meeting at 7 p.m. tonight at Green Run
High School, Dahlia Drive and Independence Boulevard. School
officials will be there to answer questions.
STAFF Graphic
by CNB