District finishes second phase of Union High renovation

Published 8:00 am Tuesday, October 31, 2017

By Ted Yoakum

While Dowagiac Union High School students have been busy crunching numbers and cramming for upcoming exams since the beginning of classes last month, a group of construction workers have been hard at work doing some crunching, cramming and whole lot of other tasks of their own inside the school the past several weeks.

Last week, contractors wrapped up work on the second phase of the $16 million high school renovation project, paid through the $37 million pair of bonds passed by district voters nearly two years ago. Crews had worked to renovate a group of four classrooms on the high school’s east end, as well as to build two new learning spaces, since the beginning of the 2017-18 school year in September.

On Friday, students returned to the spruced up classrooms. Like the first batch of rooms crews worked on during the summer, each space contains new furniture, paint work, carpeting, white boards, a digital display/touchscreen, and a host of other improvements designed to bring the learning experience into the 21st Century.

However, the most interesting additions in this latest phase of construction are the new learning lab and learning commons area, located across from each other on the east end of the building.

The learning commons is a completely new concept for Union High School, and is designed to give students and staff a flexible space for classes as well as for independent study. While the room contains several traditional tables on one side, on the opposite side is a unique combination couches and tables, where students may connect their Chromebook laptops to a pair of displays for presentations.

“The space is open to any classroom, be it math, science, English,” said Superintendent Paul Hartsig. “Students can come here and hang out in the morning, before classes begin, too.”

The new room will be one of two learning commons the district will build inside the high school. The other will be located directly next to the current room, connected by a large, open entryway.

The new learning lab across the hall, on the other hand, is a refinement of a concept the school introduced several years ago, when it rebuilt Room 100. Similar to the previous learning lab, the room is intended to facilitate group-based learning, with a number of tables grouped together, which are surrounded on both sides by computer displays and whiteboards for presentations or brainstorming.

“The room is designed so that students can always see one of the monitors, no matter where they are sitting,” Harsig said.

Like the commons, the learn lab is open to any classroom that reserves it, and may be used for a variety of purposes.

The reopened hallway is also the first to contain the new student lockers the district purchased for the renovation project. The grey storage units are shorter, but wider than the previous ones, allowing four lockers to be installed in the place of three older ones, Hartsig said.

Construction has also continued on the new competition gym, located on the west end of the building.

Crews have nearly completed the exterior shell of the building, and are currently installing a set of brown bricks on the walls. While not able to match the exact color and style of the bricks used outside Union High, which was built more than 50 years ago, Hartsig said the shade and patterns of the new bricks are a pretty close match.

“The design makes it look like a part of the school, but it also stands out as its own building,” Hartsig said.

With the second phase complete, crews have begun work on the next portion of the project, which is now around 20 percent complete, Hartsig said. This includes the renovation of six additional classrooms, located in the math and foreign language hallway on the east end of the building, as well as building the second learning common. Hartsig said he expects the third phase to wrap up by Jan. 8.

Crews have been working on the overhaul of Dowagiac Union High School since May. In addition to overhauling the entire interior of the high school, the district plans to install a new heating and cooling system, as well as build a new secure entry vestibule, similar to the one in place at Dowagiac Middle School.

Renovations to the high school will continue through the rest of the school year, as well as through next summer. The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2018.

Over the next several weeks, district leaders expect to have similar renovation projects for the four elementary buildings out for bid by contractors, as well as for the second phase of improvements to Chris Taylor Alumni Field.

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