[BHS Etree] ADMIN: BHS Facility Preparations

Fri Aug 14 16:14:49 PDT 2015

PLEASE do not reply to this email, contact David Kirwin davidkirwin at berkeley.net 

Dear Members of the BHS Community,

Following the completion of the South of Bancroft Construction Project last year, I thought BHS was finally complete as a fully updated, world class public high school. In most ways I feel that is true, except improvements and change will always be a constant on campus. I am honored to be working here to help as a facility caretaker, and upgrades will always continue as needed.

This summer we have improved the campus on a smaller scale compared to the improvements and all the new buildings that have graced BHS over the last dozen years. Below is a brief scope of this summer's work and projected timeline for the completion of  this summer’s projects.

North of Bancroft Exterior Beautification Project:

This portion of BHS summer work is progressing on schedule with little variance from plans. In the ‘campus greens', south of C building it includes the removal of the old outdoor food station, the addition of new trees, outdoor tables and new ‘sitting walls’ as well as replacing an old water fountain with a bottle filling station and 3-can recycle/compost/trash station.
North of the C building in the ‘upper courtyard’ over a dozen new trees are being added, 4 of which are surrounded by ‘sitting walls’. Some of the old existing brick work is being repaired, Berkeley Community Theater, (BCT), front entry is getting some additional handrails and there will finally be a permanent access ramp to the west gallery of the theater which will also serve the Florence Schwimley Little Theater (FSLT).
The old ramp between the upper and lower courtyard has been replace with required code upgrades. There have also been improvements to the landscaping and retaining walls in the lower courtyard gardens, keeping the wildlife area intact as the protected natural habitat of BHS, as requested by our environmental teachers. The upper courtyard is also getting several of the 3-can recycle/compost/trash stations to help serve and teach needed environmentalism.

Here is the completion schedule as estimated by the contractor on Aug 12:

Will finish the majority scope of work by next Friday 8/21/15: 

* Brick is scheduled to arrival on 8/13 and we will start install it on 8/14
* Drinking Fountain is scheduled to deliver in the week of 8/17 and we will install once arrival, chlorine test will follow after the installation. 
* Bike Rack is scheduled to deliver on 8/17 and we will install once arrival (This will be placed next to the G/H Breezeway on the MLK side. BHS more than doubled official bike parking racks in the last year.)
* Skate stoppers are scheduled to arrival in the week of 8/17 and we will install once arrival
* Handrails on both ramps are scheduled to finish by 8/28
* Trash Receptacles are scheduled to ship out on 8/20 and we won't receive them until the week of 8/24, we will install it once they arrival
* Tree grates are scheduled to ship in early September, we will put plywood to cover as temporary until they arrival. 

Separate from this large contract, district workers are helping the high school’s one gardener try to keep weeds at bay and the grass green as we continue to service so many landscaped areas. Still to be completed is the removal of an at-risk tree which we hope to have chipped and reused as ground cover in the beds around C bldg.

H Bldg Improvements:
The entire exterior of the H bldg. has been repainted. The interior was also greatly improved with floor replacements throughout, and many rooms were repainted. This is almost entirely complete.

C Bldg:
 During the last modernization of the C bldg some of the floor coverings had been installed without welded seams and those have been repaired or replaced as needed on all stairwells this summer. This is completed.

Athletic Field:
Our field was professionally deep-groomed to preserve the life and impact attenuation of the artificial turf, and district workers completed the repainting of all required field lines for every BHS athletic team sport that use the field. This is completed.

Donahue Gym:

Donahue gym was to get some interior upgrades as well as a solar array installed on the roof. For additional safety the beams carrying the weight ot the roof were to be strengthened for the large solar array and during this process it was found that due to past roof leaks there is dry rot that must be addressed… This has become the major unforeseen issue for our facility this summer, but it is good that we learned about it so we can deal with it properly.

The unexpected damage has been inspected and reviewed by structural engineers to determine remedies. All these areas of damage seem to be due to leaking scuppers at the roof drain areas, perhaps having occurred before the last roof replacement.  Apparently 5 out of 6 places had some sort of leak which contributed to this condition. More thorough and invasive inspections determined that additional protective measures to 3 of the glue-lams are needed and the engineers designed the way the District will have repairs made.

A repair has been determined and is being reviewed by the Division of the State Architect (DSA) for approval. All California school construction projects are under the jurisdiction of the State Architect. As of 8/12, DSA approved the repair plan, and the general contractor is working to get bids to get the work done ASAP.

At this time the work is projected to be completed no later than the first week in October, 2015. At that time, the Donahue Gym should be available for the district to take occupancy. Additional inspections will be on-going to determine if there is any safety impact requiring action with the moveable basketball backboards mounted to the ends of two of the affected beams.

We are working to minimize any disruption this may cause to our school community and will be relying on our other gyms, in particular the M Gym, to accommodate any classes or practices which may be disrupted during this period.

Many other improvements are being made across the campus are too numerous to detail, such as reconfigured computer lab, clock and camera upgrades, added security for our video labs, HVAC improvements, etc.

While those projects go on, the BHS custodial team continues their hard work to get the campus ready for another great year. They deserve a lot of respect for all they do - work that always seems to go unnoticed - unless something doesn't get done - then everybody notices. They do a great job and hopefully students and staff will recognize and cooperate with the benefits of a clean well-maintained campus.

I do hope you will get a chance to see the campus soon. BHS back to school night for parents is September 24.  As a parent and Berkeley resident I hope you can share in the pride of being able to offer your children such a magnificent facility.

David Kirwin
BHS Facility & Operations Manager
1980 Allston Way
Berkeley CA 94704

_____________________________
Marguerite Fa-Kaji and Catherine Ference are the parent-volunteer facilitators of the Etree; please direct any questions about the Etree to them at bhs-owner at lmi.net.  

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