2003-2006 Expansion and Renovation project
From Staples High Wiki
In terms of the Structural History of Staples High School, this is the transition from Generation Four to Five
The 2003-2006 Expansion and Renovation project is the currently present construction project taking place at Staples. Its purpose is to address the ominous influx of over 1,800 students in near years, as well as the fact that the existing building was showing its age after more than 40 years of usage. Even though the school was modernized just over 20 years ago, it did not take care of everything regarding the school; many areas were left untouched and some material had been in use for all that time.
As of now the structural parts of the project and the entire interior of the new school is complete, with the mere exception of the Cafeteria hallway and the old Guidance suite, which is to be turned over as Pupil Services sometime in May 2006.
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Current Update
All that remains to do in the project is to landscape the areas formerly occupied by the Five and Six buildings, as well as the areas south of them, which formerly was a dirt lot for construction parking and storage. These areas will then become parking as well as vegetation and walkways.
History of Project
As the new millenium dawned, and 1999 changed to 2000, consideration was made for a reconstruction and expansion of Staples High School. Designers and school board members pondered over the fact that in less than ten years, the student body could number 1,800 deep. With those facts the people knew that the existing school was too small for them to comfortably fit those students. Additionally, the cheapness of the campus when it was originally built as well as the aging facility (over 40 years old) showed in the fact that much of the building was falling apart and out of date. Rats were becoming a problem in some cases, and in extreme situations entire files were destroyed by them. Additionally, much of the school did not have air conditioning, and wherever individual units weren't in place, work environments became unbearable in hot climates.
One of the original plans was to build additional stories above the existing structure. A further investigation into the integrity of it out-ruled any such plan. Following this, another decision was proposed to build an addition up north near the Fieldhouse. However this was frowned upon by the planning board. Various other plans came into being, each will differing amounts of Demolition to the existing buildings. But regardless of the plan, the core facilities (Fieldhouse, Cafeteria, Auditorium, and Library) were to stay, although renovations in those areas was planned.
The final proposals made were either a spread-out, two-story horseshoe complex or the plan that was actually executed (a shorter wing with three stories). Despite the fact that three stories could make students have to climb as many as three flights of stairs (if coming from the athletic locker rooms, the lowest area on campus), it was ruled more practical due to the fact it would save area and be cheaper in the end.
Groundbreaking occurred on July 1, 2003. The first parts of the project included razing the entire front loop of the school and digging for the construction of the new building. This first part of the project was known as the "big dig". The process did encounter many obstacles; water mains were hit, causing school-wide water outages. Additionally, underground rocks caused the requirement of dynamite blasts. Long time teachers who remember the dreaded Modernization project were relieved that this time, construction would be seperated completely from the students.
The 2003-2004 school year started without much inconvenience, although the front loop was now gone and students had to seek other entrances. Buses dropped off outside the Four building. Students were dropped off outside of the Seven building. In January 2004, the framework of the new building begun to go up. The placement of steel took until July. During Spring 2004, Building One was renovated, forcing Health Classes to relocate for the remainder of the school year. The Fieldhouse got a sprinkler system installed, and the new Fire Alarm systems made their debut in the Athletics Area.
The Summer of 2004 was the first of several summers that the school was completely closed off from the public. Over the time, brickwork progressed rapidly across the new building. Additionally, a new Senior Parking Lot was constructed near the tennis courts. At the beginning of the 2004-2005 school year, the new Culinary Arts rooms opened.
However, unlike the previous school year, construction would end up being quite an inconvenience for students this year. Sure, there was no need to navigate around mud during Modernization, but detours from the construction jammed hallways and made getting to class dramatically more difficult. Additionally, many of the well-liked areas of Staples were to close. The Auditorium went first, closing for that entire school year. Through the school year, Staples Players, the Candelight Concert, and various other Staples performances were held at nearby Bedford Middle School's Auditorium. But in some cases, auditoriums as far away as Long Lots Elementary School were used (for the Fine Arts night on February 8, 2005).
The first move (Buildings Seven and Nine into new buildings H and I) was originally planned for the Thanksgiving vacation of 2004. However, a contamination problem that occured with the construction delayed the move, now set to be done for the weekend of December 11, 2004. Since it would just be a weekend, the move would pour over into the next school week, and students would be given three days after it to clean out lockers in Buildings 7 and 9. However, two days prior to the move, the mechanical systems of the new building failed the test, and the move was delayed yet again, to the Christmas Vacation.
When the move finally did occur, students found the campus quite different. Buildings 7 and 9 turned into the H and I buildings of the new three-story unit. Buildings 7 and 9 were sealed off. The way students got between the new and old buildings was through a passage betwen the Auditorium and Library, at the end of the Auditorium Lobby.
The first of the Demolition started on January 15, 2005. After performing asbestos abatement and fully vacating it of airborne particles, the Demolition of building Seven had begun with the use of an excavator, a bulldozer fitted with a metal claw-like device attached instead of a shovel. building Nine stayed standing; construction prioritized the Demolition of 7 due to the fact that the Demolition of the South Courtyard and the preperations for the final wing needed to wait until 7 was totally gone. By January 31, 2005, the Seven building had completely disappeared off the map.
The Nine building was not given the excavator until mid-February. During this time, the South Courtyard was leveled; loggers knocked away the trees and bushes, while the playground and asphalt was also removed. Then, a sight that was witnessed by many: the boiler of the Nine building was removed. The large cylinder was carried out and seen by many who happened to be in the Six building at the time.
On February 14, 2005, the Demolition of Building Nine had finally begun. The same process was used as before, and by March 5, 2005, nothing remained of the 40 year-old two-story unit.
When the first round of Demolitions ended, work begun in that area on the construction of the final section of the three-story building, Building K.
Meanwhile, students were preparing for yet another drastic change to the school: the second move, which was over the February vacation. Building Six was cleared of the English classes (as well as the five math classrooms at the south end of the building). Building Eight, including the Library was also vacated, which was to be completely redone as well as partially demolished. Lastly, construction got under way for building Four, as it was vacated. A critical announcement about musical instruments was made in order to make sure they were moved successfully.
After the vacation was over, music classes met in makeshift areas at the south end of building Six, while the Library moved into its temporarily location around Room 602. English and the affected Math classes moved into the New building. Building J was opened, and the classrooms and assignments were greately redistributed; even though many old building classes were moving into the new facility, not all were necessarily in the newly-opened J corridor.
Work continued in three areas; the renovation of Building Four, the Demolition of some areas of Building Eight, and the new Cafeteria expansion. On March 28, 2005, the North Courtyard closed amid the Demolition of the Library. Over the April vacation, the North Courtyard was excavated, the Library was fully gutted, and the classroom areas of the Eight building were demolished.
Work continued in the normal routine until June 3, 2005, when the Cafeteria finally closed for renovations. At that time the Gymnasium took over as the Cafeteria, although hot meals of any type were to be absent. Only boxed lunches, drinks, snacks, and other donated food were usable. Students needing to go from the Old building to the New one took a makeshift path around the Cafeteria that involved a covered walkway outdoors beside the Cafeteria in case of rain.
As the school year came to a close, the entire site was turned over to Turner Construction for a second summer. However, it would be more intense than last; this time the entire campus was off-limits to the public, effective from 26 June to 29 August. And indeed that was put into use; the construction company went into high gear to finish a myriad of jobs; including the renovations of the Cafeteria, Library and Building F, as well as continued construction work on Building K and the new main courtyard. Additionally, the connector that used to run between the Cafeteria and Library (in which students used to get from the old building to the new) was demolished.
As summer ended, Inklings reported in the 2005-2006 back to school issue that "Most years its the Freshman who have to get acquainted with the campus, but this time its all four classes that must get used to a school drastically different from the one they left in June." And drastically different it was. Building F was finished, and felt completely different from its old "Four building" counterpart. Additionally, it was the only way to get between the old and the new; the connector mentioned above was gone. But most importantly was the entirely new Cafeteria, although only a portion was complete. A solid wall divided the main portion from the expansion that was still a couple months away from completion. It was also learned that the word about a November move into the Library and Guidance suites was now scrapped; the problems they had with design and measurement descrepancies and other issues had taken their effects, and that except for an anticipated November 1st opening of the Cafeteria Expansion, it was not going to be until February 2006 that the remainder of the school would be complete.
Work went on, and by disbelief of many unoptimistic people, the moves all happened on or close to schedule. However, the Cafeteria expansion was six days behind; a weekend was needed to open the wall, so it was not ready until Monday, 7 November 2005. Additionally, the hallway around the Cafteria was still closed off, and still is now. Work kept going on in Building G and Building K, and during February break the move occured as normal.
Friday, February 17, 2006 was the long-awaited final day of instruction in Buildings Five and Six. As before, there was some scattered writing on walls, with the bathrooms in particular, but not as much as before, as quelled by an e-mail to staff instructing that it was not to be done. Within the five alloted days the entire two buildings were vacated completely, with asbestos abatement beginning Thursday, February 23. As of now the buildings are still in the abatement process, with Demolition to conclude around April 30.
The demolition process this time was similar but not the same as before. After asbestos abatement was completed, compact excavators gutted the interiors of the buildings, and only after that did a full-size excavator tear down the structure itself. Following the end of demolition, the concrete foundation was dug up and cleared, and now the site remains a field of dirt.
On Monda, May 15, 2006, the Cafeteria hallway opened, along with the Pupil Services Office (which has yet to be occupied).
Effects on the public
At first, students were almost unaffected, as the construction area was completely seperated from the existing building. Except for the vanished front loop, nothing was lost. However, there were some troules, as stated above with the severing of water mains by the digging. The construction also made noise and caused other disruptions, such as periodic fire alarms from smoke getting into the building. Despite that, the ongoing project caused little concern.
However, by the time the moves started occuring midway through the 2004-2005 school year, students did not react well. The fact they no longer had courtyards and other core facilities upset many and travelling between classes now took drastically longer. Countless avenues of access were razed by the construction; in order to get from the new wing of the school to the old, you had to walk through the Auditorium Lobby, then up the ramp going by guidance, through the Cafeteria and then over into Building 5.
At first, the Auditorium was closed throughout the school year almost entirely due to the construction around it and very little by work inside. Things all began to escalate through 2nd semester of 2004-2005; after Christmas break the South Courtyard was almost entirely gone. in February the Library and Four building were gone. By the end of March the North Courtyard, the site of all the fun and games students enjoyed, got turned over and later was bulldozed. The construction's hampering of student lives reached a climax by June, where the Cafeteria, home of all the socializing imaginable, fell to the sound of jackhammers and excavators. Even though makeshift areas compensated for these closures, they just couldn't keep up with the areas the students lost.
The start of 2005-2006 brought back some of the morale, but nontheless construction was still dominant. The Auditorium, Four building, Cafeteria and even a courtyard became available once again. However, much like last year there was only one way from the old to the new building, and tardiness remained a problem. On top of that, only a portion of the new Cafeteria was open; half of the Gymnasium needed to be used for eating space. On November 7, 2005, the full Cafeteria was in use. The way of student life during this time continued until February 17, 2006, where the final move is to take place.
Photos
 30 July 2003, original Front Loop |
 8 August 2003, commencing of the "Big Dig" |
 January 2004, the frame of the new building starts to show |
 June 2004, looking at what is now Courtyard 1 and the Auditorium Lobby |
 June 2004, looking into the almost-finished renovation of the Building B/One building corridor |
 June 2004, viewing the interior of the new school |
 18 November 2004, viewing an almost-finished science classroom |
 25 January 2005, the rubble of the Seven building |
 15 April 2005, looking at what was the North Courtyard |
 Renovations of the Four building |
 March 2005, initial work on Building K |
 June 2005, renovations of the Cafeteria |
 Sign showing the closed-off campus during Summer 2005 |
 30 September 2005, work on the Cafeteria expansion |
 30 September 2005, work on the Library Media Center |
 30 September 2005, work in Building K |
 Finishing touches on Building K |
 Abatement work beginning in Five and Six |
 Demolition taking place in the Six building, 28 March 2006 |
 Demolition of the structure of the Six building |
 Demolition of the structure of the Five building |
