Keeping up with the work key to maintaining school infrastructure

KEEPING UP WITH THE WORK KEY TO MAINTAINING SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE

By Debra Mccown
Bristol Herald Courier

LEBANON, Va. - The giant crayons marking the four inside corners of Lebanon Primary School draw a picture of how a mid-20th century building can become a 21st century classroom.

They began life as solid-colored pillars in an office building that at one time served as the Lebanon, Va., headquarters of Pittston Coal Co. But when Russell County needed a new school five years ago, school leaders decided to re-purpose the old building and wound up with a new school at a fraction of the cost of new construction.

With colorful tile and cabinets, new furniture and bright classroom decorations, the school resembles a box of crayons even without the ones in floor-to-ceiling size. Still, Principal Rita Street said, the four giant crayons are indispensable for young children trying to find their way around.

"It's great," Street said. "It couldn't have been better had they started from the ground up and built a new building."

While other Southwest Virginia counties struggle over what to do with post-World War II school buildings in a poor state of repair, officials in Russell and Washington counties aren't worried. Their buildings are the same age, but in good shape.

School officials in those two counties said that is because they've put money into the buildings over the years rather than allow them to fall into disrepair. The money was spent in maintenance, infrastructure upgrades, renovations, additions and even adaptive re-use of buildings that didn't start out as schools.


Always building

Turning an old office building into a school cost just a fraction of what a new facility would have cost, to meet the growing population in the Lebanon area, said David Cozzolino, maintenance director for the Russell County school system.

In other cases, growth in Russell County has been handled with additions. Honaker High School, undergoing renovation this summer, has been expanded twice since its construction in 1952, Principal Tony Bush said.

Even the tiny Belfast School, built in 1939, has been expanded three times over the years. At Belfast, one glance tells the story: 21st-century computers fit right in with the modernized d?cor of the Depression-era building.

"It can be done," Georgia McCoy, principal of Belfast and Elk Garden elementary schools, said of making old buildings look new again at a reasonable cost.

"We are very proud of the fact that our buildings are renovated and maintained," McCoy said. "We know that sometimes we have to wait our turn, but whether it's a large renovation or a small renovation that has to be done, it's going to get done eventually."

Russell County looks at renovation as an ongoing process, Cozzolino said: Something is always in line to be fixed up.

"We use our drop in debt service," Cozzolino said. "When we finish paying a loan for something that we did 20 years ago, we use the money to do something today."

Like neighboring Washington County, Russell has continued its renovation plans despite a tough economy and a budget year that came with significant state cuts.


A conscious decision

Washington County, currently working on additions to eight schools, is realizing big savings from low construction costs brought on by the recession. At the same time, the school system is making progress on smaller improvements, such as bathroom renovations.

"The first thing I noticed when I came into Abingdon High School today: The floor looks as good as any new facility you're going to find," said Patrick Buchanan, manager of maintenance for Washington County schools. "Fifty years ago, the powers that be chose to put better products into our schools."

The terrazzo tile that still shines like new on Abingdon's floors is more expensive, Buchanan said, but pays off in the long run. Between quality materials and continuous maintenance, the 1950s-era building might as well be new.

But Buchanan said it didn't happen by accident.

Superintendent Alan Lee, who left in June after running the county school system for 11 years, said many people realized the facilities needed a long-term plan.

"The philosophy was that a school is an investment, and it's a long-term investment, and somebody back then was forward-thinking enough to realize that if you've got an investment, you've got to take care of it first," Lee said.

That philosophy gained new energy in the past couple of decades, Lee said, from elected leaders on the School Board and the county Board of Supervisors who've made it a priority.

Standing inside Abingdon High School with Buchanan, Lee summed up his assessment.

"It's a 50-year-old building, and I think we'll get another 50 out of it," he said. "A classroom is a classroom is a classroom. So as long as we can keep the facilities strong, sound and weather-tight, heated and cooled, these buildings are going to last for generations."

Buchanan easily lists projects that have been done at Washington County's schools little-by-little over time: the asbestos removed in the early 1990s; the windows replaced when money became available; the scheduled roof replacements, new floors, lighting upgrades, plumbing, heating and cooling improvements; and added wiring to accommodate technology.

Some projects, including new boilers and lighting, have paid for themselves with efficiency and energy savings.

"The expense is $1 million, but if I can pay it off in two years, it's a good expense," Buchanan said. "We don't have anything showboat that would impress a kid from Fairfax ... but what we have works."