By Jason Klaiber
Staff Writer
The Fayetteville-Manlius School District recently commenced the first phase of its $45.2 million capital project to enhance facilities.
“The idea is by starting in the early spring and working through the summer that the contractors will be finished hopefully before the snow flies later in the year,” Superintendent Craig Tice said.
In December 2017, district residents passed the proposal for the project in a 1,108 to 848 vote.
The first stage of the project includes a 4,000-square-foot addition to the back end of Enders Road Elementary School facing the playground, expected to be completed by October.
At the high school, 13 restrooms built in the 1960s will be renovated during the summer break.
The school’s 7,684-square-foot library media center will see an expansion of about 1,286 square feet to better address learning activities and accommodate students, complete with a workspace and wireless technology.
“It really will be a state-of-the-art facility,” Tice said.
By the middle of May, custodians will set up the high school’s auxiliary gym to serve as a temporary replacement for the library while it undergoes scheduled construction from then until October.
Over the summer break, a portion of the district’s central kitchen — situated in House 1 of the high school — will be converted into an office, a faculty room and a conference room to compensate for space taken up by the expansion of the library media center.
“Our construction management firm is choreographing it to make sure that there’s minimal impact to the students,” Tice said.
Construction to the Enders Road addition will avoid impediments to regular pick-up and drop-off locations as well as busing.
The staging and construction area behind the building has also been fenced off to protect passing students.
Students at the high school will have continued access to the library media center’s resources during construction by way of its online database and catalog.
During the restroom update, the newer bathrooms in the art wing and foyer area will be accessible.
Construction will take place mainly before school, during recess, after school and over vacation periods.
Additional stages of construction include planned but yet-to-be-approved additions and renovations to Wellwood Middle School.
The district also recently entered into a $3.2 million energy performance contract with Siemens to swap out incandescent light bulbs with LED, replace boilers, add and replace insulation and upgrade infrastructure.
