Park View, D.C.

With the first day of classes starting on Monday, August 27th, I wanted to post some images of the completed Phase I modernization of the Bruce-Monroe @ Park View Elementary School. There will also be a ribbon cutting on Monday to get things started.

After touring the building yesterday, I can honestly say that Turner Construction did a bang up job. We were very fortunate to have them, and their level of care and craftsmanship throughout the building is evident.

Keep in mind as you look at the following photos that the Phase I modernization was primarily focused on upgrading the classrooms. Two more scheduled phases will complete the renovations. Also, the faculty and staff are still busily moving back into the building and getting ready for the start of classes.

Newly renovated classroom.

Part of the computer lab.

School library with new bookshelves.

The old kindergarten room in the 1931 south wing has beautiful oak wainscoting, which was restored.

Another view of the room with wainscoting.

The former balcony of the auditorium has been converted into the school’s welcome center (i.e., front office). The oak window at the top of the stairs is an original window from the building that has been repurposed.

Upon entering the building on Otis Place, this is the view on the first floor looking south toward the main entrance.

I had an opportunity to look at how the renovations were going at the Bruce-Monroe @ Park View School yesterday. By and large I am impressed and think that the community really lucked out by having Turner Construction work on the building. It was very clear in talking to the Turner representative that a lot of respect and TLC was being given to the historic structure.

But before I talk about that, I’m happy to report that everything appears to be going ahead as planned. Renovations are in an advanced state and all should be ready for school to start on schedule this fall. After all, that is the paramount goal. The heating and cooling systems are getting their planned upgrades and the classrooms will definitely be state of the art.

Regarding the historical aspect of the building, the chief concern is the school’s auditorium. But as that is not included in this phase of the modernization I wasn’t expecting to see anything out of the ordinary. But the level of care Turner has taken to preserve the original woodwork that was in 1916 building’s classrooms is clearly above and beyond. They have also preserved the display cabinets that are located in several key locations around the building.

But, the most impressive restoration effort is in the 1931 south wing’s first grade classroom that was originally designed as a “Literature Class Room.” Of all the rooms in the school, that was the only one that had solid oak wainscoting … and even though it was not within the scope of the project to save it, Turner has decided to both save and restore it. Below is a photo giving a small indication of what that room will look like when it’s finished.

The school’s original Literature Class Room has oak wainscoting that is being restored.

With the close of the last day of classes at the Bruce-Monroe @ Park View School on June 15th will come the start of the modernization of the historic 96 year old building. Starting on Saturday, June 16th, construction will begin in earnest in order to get the building back in order for the start of school in the fall.

The work that will soon begin will be the first of three planned phases that will ultimately end in 2018 and bring the building up to modern standards and expectations for educational facilities today. During the eight to nine weeks of construction, work will begin around 7 a.m. and continue as late as possible. The construction is not expected to cause much noise or inconvenience for the community. The most noticeable impact on the surrounding community appears to be along the Warder Street side of the school.

In looking at the traffic plan below, it is clear that no streets will be closed during construction. Warder Street, however, will be reduced to parking on the east and a center travel lane. The parking lane on the west will be used for storage containers, dumpsters, and staging.

The work this summer will focus on classrooms, restrooms, and administration areas of the school. The cafeteria and gymnasium will get some freshening up, but will not be modernized in this phase of the project. The auditorium will be left entirely to a latter phase as well.

About 60% of the work will focus on infrastructure and services — new electrical, HVAC, computer cabling, and plumbing. To support the increased need for power, the building will get a heavy up.

The other 40% of the work will focus on fit and finishes of the renovated classrooms. In the original 1916 building the plan is to restore the original woodwork. To create space for all the technology infrastructure the ceilings will be dropped. In the 1931 wings of the building there is no woodwork in the classrooms, so the walls in those rooms will be furred out to make space for the cabling there.

Those wanting more details about the modernization of the school will have an opportunity at the June 13th ANC 1A meeting where DGS is expected to make a presentation to the Commission. Meetings start at 7:00 p.m. and are held at the Harriet Tubman Elementary School, 13th Street N.W. (Gymnasium).

(Rendering by SORG Architects of the renovated Park View School)

On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, SORG Architects unveiled their 33 page conceptual plan to the School Improvement Team (SIT) for comment. I’m still in the process of requesting minutes and comments from attendees of that meeting. I will also be scheduling community meetings to gather neighborhood input and ensure that residents’ concerns and needs are addressed in the modernization process as required by the process.

As one might expect upon initially reviewing the concept package, there are areas that are very good and areas that still need to be reconsidered. I’ll highlight a few of them below.

Issues Still Needing to be Addressed

Since SORG first presented a preliminary assessment on December 20th, it truly appears that there has been no progress on the major issues of the auditorium balcony, ground floor public restrooms, and planned inclusion of additional playgrounds. Additionally, modernizing a 96-year-old building is a lot more complicated than modernizing a building like Harriet Tubman. The building will require significant reprogramming for it to adequately serve as an elementary school for the next century. I’ll focus on a couple important issues here:

• Need for ground floor public restrooms: SORG’s concept removes two substantial public restrooms adjacent to the auditorium and replaces it with a two stall “teachers toilet” across the hall. As one of the stated goals is to return the auditorium to active community use, it makes no sense to have a 700-seat auditorium with inadequate public restroom facilities.
• The site plans continue to show nearly all the school’s greenspace being developed for playgrounds. One need look no further than the rendering above for an example of one of these proposed playgrounds prominently displayed. Again, destroying all of the school’s greenspace for playgrounds is unnecessary with a recreational facility directly across the street.
• Redevelopment of the parking and trash areas: The drawings indicate that the back of the school — including the alley — will be included in the project. The chief concern here is how any reconfiguration of the parking and trash areas will impact the residents living on 6th Street, NW.

Where They Seem to be Getting it Right

One thing that becomes apparent in reading the architectural summary of the project and in looking at details such as the ones below is that the architects do seem to understand the overall concept of preserving the historical integrity of the building during the modernization process. Even so, there are issues that will not be settled until after the Historic Preservation Review Board takes up the school’s historic landmark application. In other areas, such as windows and downspouts, mention of them may merely be omitted at this stage but included in the final concept. Interior details include saving the terrazzo floors and changing out the doors with period appropriate wood panel and glass doors.

(SORG presentation sheet indicating overall repairs planned for the exterior of the building)