Parent Teacher Magazine Gaston County Schools Nov/Dec 2016 | Page 5

Construction progresses on schools in Gastonia and Stanley
Gaston County ’ s two new schools are starting to take shape . Foundations have been poured and concrete walls are rising from the dirt .
Both the elementary school in Gastonia and the middle school in Stanley are on track to be completed late next summer , according to project architects who presented reports recently to the Gaston County Board of Education . When ready , the modern school campuses will serve the Gastonia and Stanley communities for many years to come .
Pleasant Ridge Elementary
The new elementary school is well underway behind the current site of Pleasant Ridge Elementary School , said Rick Brown from Boomerang Design , an architecture firm with offices in Charlotte , Raleigh and Shelby . He shared photos of classrooms taking shape on the work site as well as a 500-foot-long , 15-foot-high retaining wall .
Plumbing and electrical work is already underway , and steel beams will be added to the building within the next few weeks . Brown also explained how the new school building will change the layout of the Pleasant Ridge campus .
The public entrance will be from the north of the new building on Floyd Street , and the existing south entrance will be reserved for bus traffic . “ It will greatly improve traffic flow ,” he said .
The two-story building will accommodate 800 students and feature an inner courtyard with a southern exposure , which Brown said will allow students to have outdoor learning time even in the winter .
The project is currently under budget and on time , he said . “ Things are really moving along ,” he said . “ We ’ ve had really good participation and teamwork . Everyone ’ s working together to make this happen .” line owned by Duke Energy has to be relocated to allow the new building to go up , he explained . Duke has been two months behind schedule , but the construction contractor developed a plan to work around the problem .
The new middle school building is being constructed where Stanley Middle ’ s athletic fields were . When it is complete , the old school will be demolished and new athletic fields put in its place .
The new school has a “ compact ,” two-story design , said Moore , and will accommodate 800 students with total capacity for 1,000 .
He described the building as “ a stately presence ” that will tie into Stanley ’ s traditional architecture . It will also have an attached gym , which will allow for community use after school hours .
Moore said , sewer lines have been relocated , and the building ’ s footings and foundation are being poured this week . “ Soon we ’ ll see the walls go up and the building come out of the dirt ,” he said . “ The students are going to be excited .”
Gaston County Board of Education chairman Kenneth R . Lutz , Jr . thanked the representatives from Boomerang and LS3P for their presentations . “ We do appreciate all the hard work that you ’ ve done so far and we look forward to seeing the walls go up ,” Lutz said .
Meanwhile , the new middle school in Stanley has experienced a slight delay in construction , said Marcus Moore from LS3P Associates . A power
The site grading has been completed ,
Stanley Middle
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Parent Teacher News • November / Decemberr 2016 • 3