CORVALIS, Ore.—After the Corvallis School District adopted its “Innovation Team” of educators and others to envision what the future of its schools might look like, ideas have been put into practice, perhaps most notably at Garfield Elementary School, the first of the district’s schools to experience such a renovation.

Designer DLR Group worked with general contractor Fortis Construction Inc. at Garfield, which first opened for students in 1923. The school was named in honor of President James Garfield, the 20th American president and the second to be assassinated while in office. In the 21st century the school operates as a dual-language educational institute, immersing students not only in English but also Spanish.

DLR’s job at Garfield entailed building out new classrooms and updating earlier facilities there as well.

According to the school district, renovations at Garfield included six new classrooms, two of which are devoted specifically to art and science. Music rooms and new collaborative learning areas were also part of the master plan for the school. The designers and contractor also had to envision the existing classrooms to make them amenable to modern learning necessities. Furthermore, the plumbing, electrical and mechanics all had to be upgraded, in addition to safety improvements made around the school.

The renovations allowed the school to increase its overall footprint from 46,000 to 62,000 square feet.

DLR’s team was first invited to discuss changes to the school during several meetings with the Corvallis School District. In their news release, Principal Nancy Davila-Williams said that collaboration was key to the project’s success right from the beginning.

“I appreciated looking around the table and seeing familiar faces of Garfield families and also new faces of community members and school neighbors,” she said. “The architects asked questions, and our answers were really heard. We had an opportunity to engage in conversation with each other, and we were able to listen to each other’s ideas and perspectives. The design team really did get input from all the players who would be impacted by the projects.”

Added art teacher Jerry Bryan: “Everything we talked about for the art and science classroom happened.”

In an email sent to School Construction News, DLR Group project manager Elizabeth Delorme, AIA and LEED Green Associate, said that reconfiguring Garfield’s design allowed for students to experience “a warm, welcoming, and inclusive environment.”

“The design responds to the school’s culturally diverse student population by creating a strong sense of community and fosters direct connections to nature,” she said.

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CORVALLIS, Ore.—Numerous projects in Oregon are scheduled to begin in 2020 as part of the Corvallis School District’s $200 million facilities bond.

According to an article in the Gazette Times, voters approved the bond in May 2018 that includes funding for projects including upgrading schools to modern seismic standards; building new secure entrances at some schools; adding dedicated cafeterias at most elementary schools that didn’t already have them; adding career and technical education spaces at secondary schools; and adding permanent classrooms to district elementary schools to eliminate the need for modular classrooms.

Garfield Elementary School is just one of the schools that will soon undergo a major renovation. Work on this approximately $25 million project is scheduled to begin before students are let out for summer vacation.

The Wenaha Group is the District’s Bond Program Manager, and Fortis Construction is the construction manager/general contractor on this project. DLR Group is the architect.

Kim Patten, director of facilities and transportation for the Corvallis School District, said in a statement that contractors will be doing site preparation on the school’s field so that crews can move three existing modular classrooms, and place eight additional modulars there to house students during construction, which will continue through the 2020-21 school year.

“Half the school will be in modulars,” she said.

The Garfield Elementary School project involves the addition of six classrooms; creating collaborative and small group learning areas; expanding the library/media center; renovation of existing classroom spaces; adding covered play shelter; improving ADA accessibility; renovating restrooms; repairing the concrete floor foundation; replacing the kitchen flooring; upgrading finishes in shared spaces with floors, paint and ceiling; securing the front entry; office modifications; improving site circulation and parking; repairing and replacing the sidewalk; seismic upgrades; fuel tank decommissioning and upgrades to mechanical, electrical and plumbing.

Temporary walls will be erected to keep students away from construction, in addition to a temporary main entrance and office in a vacant classroom, a construction fence on one side of the school’s blacktop, and modular classrooms two rows deep on the field.

“It’s going to feel a lot different here come September,” Patten told the Gazette-Times during a tour in December of the planned construction.

The cafeteria and gym will not be affected by construction, and most of the school’s blacktop and playground will be available.

When completed in fall 2021, students have a school that contains remodeled and expanded dedicated rooms for music and science and art, plus collaboration spaces for specialists to work with students outside of class, and a full-size library instead of a small library in a converted classroom.

“This coming year is going to have some challenges, but we are going to come together through it and it’s going to be exciting to see that transition happen,” added Patten. “I think students are going to feel appreciative of their new building.”

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