Vineland High air conditioning project hits snag
VINELAND – First the good news: Vineland High School South is getting air conditioning.
Now the bad news: It won’t be ready when the school opens on Sept. 6.
“They will have it for June, but for the beginning of the school year we won’t have the system up and running, no way,” said Wayne Weaver, the district’s supervisor of buildings and grounds.
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An unexpected asbestos abatement project wreaked havoc with the schedule, he said.
“We encountered a lot of more than we anticipated,” Weaver told The Daily Journal. “It has slowed the project down.”
The asbestos didn’t pose a danger to students and staff in the school because it was encased behind fiberglass insulation wrapping duct work. It was exposed during demolition work.
Weaver, who has overseen major renovations and the construction of several schools, calls the VHS South air conditioning retrofit his most “challenging” project to date.
“You are putting air conditioning in a building that was never designed for air conditioning,” he said.
The $10 million project, which has spanned two summers, has already replaced the building’s steam heating — which exceeded its life expectancy — with a more energy-efficient hot water system.
This summer, they’re focused on adding air conditioning to the 53-year-old school.
The N.J. Schools Development Authority is funding the project, with the district kicking in $500,000.
The project involves massive duct work throughout the 240,000-square-foot building, positioning roof units and installing heating/air conditioning units in each of school’s 70 classrooms.
“We are working on a lot of things, the whole building has workers throughout it,” Weaver said.
“The building is going to open up in September,” he said. “There may be some parts of the building that the students won’t be able to use initially.”
Major areas of concern are the locker rooms and the kitchen/cafeteria area.
VHS Principal Tom McCann is aware of the situation and attended a construction meeting last week.
“We could see clearly that they were going to be delayed,” McCann said, preparing to take the setback in stride.
As the VHS campus principal, he has options.
“If we need locker rooms, the kids can get changed in the north building,” McCann said.
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If the cafeteria is not ready, the VHS North cafeteria can send over bagged lunches, he said.
If some classrooms aren’t available, adjustments will be made.
“I’m on it, I’ve got it all sketched out,” McCann said.
The one thing he said he won’t be able to remedy is the students’ disappointment.
“It’s been a challenge, but thank goodness we have a really good team in place,” Weaver said, commending state officials, contractor Falasca Mechanical Inc. and the subcontractors.
“Everyone is committed to getting the job done,” Weaver said. “They need to accelerate this project to get it done in time, so we are probably going to start running two shifts.”
“That will probably start next week and through the weekend, we’re not sure,” he said, adding the schedule amendment requires state approval.
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The heart of the system, the cooling towers, are installed just outside the school cafeteria. Lines are being connected to a heating/air conditioning unit, which is essentially an industrial-sized radiator, in each classroom.
“We have to have heat by Oct. 15," Weaver said.
His staff is working around the contractors, waxing floors and performing other summer maintenance work.
Weaver wants his staff to have at least a week to reassemble classrooms, which were cleared for the utility work.
“They need to give us the building a week in advance of Sept. 6 and that is pushing it to reassemble a school,” Weaver said. “And that’s bringing in a small army to get this done — we already have a list of people who are going to work that Labor Day weekend.”
Deborah M. Marko: (856) 563-5256; dmarko@gannettnj.com