Final phases of Tracy High renovation underway

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jun 18, 2009 | by Aaron Swarts

TRACY -- Heavy equipment is once again rolling on the Tracy High School campus.

The final phases of the site's extensive renovation are now underway as bulldozers begin to demolish and remove what had been the school's cafeteria, library and music buildings.

"We are essentially tearing down the interior of the campus," said the school district's facilities director, Bonny Carter. "The buildings coming down will be replaced with two new classroom buildings in the same area."

The first will be a two-story structure containing the schools cafeteria as well as a number of classrooms on the second floor. The new library building will be a single-story unit, that will also house the school's music program.

"We expect the work to be done in 18 months," Carter said.

While the interior of the school is being completely rebuilt, the perimeter structures are also receiving a face-lift of sorts.

"Our industrial arts buildings like shop and vehicle maintenance are getting remodels," Carter said. "We are expecting those buildings to be renovated and ready within eight months."

The first phase of the school's renovation, which featured the construction of a 52,000 -square-foot multi story classroom building, will be used to house students while the interior of the campus is completed.

"The new building has 36 classrooms, and we still have a number of portable units on campus," Carter said. "That should be plenty of room to house all of our students."

Construction manager Anthony Continente said he expects the students to do just fine during the project.

"They did a great job dealing with the minor disturbance during the first phase of the project," he said. "There is going to be some noise, but for the most part it will be contained to the center of the campus while the students are working on the perimeter, so there shouldn't be a lot of interruptions."

Tracy High student Michael Ortiz agreed with that assessment.

"They have been working on this school for a long time, it's not that big of a deal," he said. "This school was getting pretty old so I am glad it's being fixed."

The efforts at Tracy High School are part of the district's $52 million facilities bond passed by voters in 2006. In addition to Tracy High the bond has funded the new athletic stadium and swimming complex at West High School.

Correspondent Aaron Swarts can be reached at angaaron33@yahoo.com