District breaks ground for elementary school

District breaks ground
for elementary school

JACKSON — The Jackson school district celebrated the groundbreaking for a new elementary school on June 25.

On hand were a number of township and school officials as well as residents.

The new school, which will accommodate 900 students, will be built on Patterson Road just across the street from the Goetz Middle School.

The Patterson Road Project, as it is being referred to, was one portion of a referendum project that passed by 10 votes in January.

The referendum consists of building a new high school, the new elementary school and gymnasiums at the Homan and Switlik elementary schools.

The district also plans to purchase about 13 acres of land adjacent to a parcel of property the Township Committee donated to the district. The land will be used as the site for a future middle school.

Also in attendance at the groundbreaking were members of a community-based activist group called the Future Directions Committee, which worked with the district throughout the planning stages of the referendum. The group plans to continue working with the district on a number of future needs projects.

According to Allison Erwin, communications specialist for the district, the total cost of the referendum is $103,129,000.

The new elementary school will cost $24.8 million to build. The district received more than $32 million in state aid for the project, leaving Jackson taxpayers to cover the remaining $70 million.

In February, administrators from the district and residents met at the proposed site on Patterson Road to discuss the schematics of the new elementary school.

According to Erwin, the meeting was designed to give residents who live in the vicinity a chance to ask questions about the project.

"As we expand, the district is committed to being a good neighbor and encourages residents to contact the district if and when additional questions arise," Erwin said.

As presently planned, there will be limited lighting on the new elementary school building at all times. Light is designed to cast downward and inward to illuminate the building without casting onto the surrounding neighborhood. Additionally, the lighting along the driveways will also be directed downward with light shields against the side closest to the residential area. The shields help focus the light to the driveway and away from any residential areas.

From Patterson Road, the school will have a one-way entrance driveway and a one-way exit driveway. The access road leading to Cassville Road, as illustrated in site plans, is an emergency access road only. The road will be blocked with a special locked gate that prohibits access by cars but can be accessed by fire engines and emergency crews.

"We paid very close attention to the neighbors when designing this school," said project architect Joseph DiCara. "I designed the school as if I was living in the neighborhood."

The district had planned to begin construction before the end of the current school year in order to prepare for a September 2003 opening.

According to Erwin, the new 120,000-square-foot building will surround an open courtyard, with a cafeteria and a multi-purpose room anchoring the south end of the building.

There are 39 classrooms for general and special education instruction, including four rooms for kindergarten instruction. Playing fields are also included at the site.

Former Mayor Vicki Rickabaugh said the new elementary school is a vision from the past that has become a reality.

"It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that I attend this groundbreaking today, knowing that the property donated to the Jackson Board of Education from the Jackson Township Committee is being used to construct a much-needed elementary school," Rickabaugh said.

Bulldozers had already began clearing a large portion of the property before the official groundbreaking ceremony.