Long Island Voters Support School Improvements

SHOREHAM, N.Y. — A $33.5 million bond initiative to fund infrastructure improvements and renovations throughout the Shoreham-Wading River Central School District passed in March, paving the way for a variety of upgrades. The project, dubbed the “Renewal Project,” will cost an estimated $48.5 million. State funding will cover the $15 million difference.

The 2,400-student district contracted BBS Architects, Landscape Architects and Engineers of Patchogue, N.Y., to provide architecture, interior design, mechanical, electrical and engineering services.
“The construction program will significantly improve the condition of all buildings occupied by students and faculty, renovate instructional spaces, promote energy efficiency, improve motorized traffic safety within school grounds, and rebuild athletic fields and tennis courts,” said BBS principal architect Roger Smith, AIA, LEED AP in an interview with the New York Real Estate Journal in March. “The district’s facilities have not received any major improvements since they were built in the 1960s and 1970s. The renovation program will bring these buildings to the 21st century’s standards of design, safety, codes, efficiency and educational facility planning.”
Projects will take place at four Shoreham schools, including one high school, one middle school and two elementary schools. Work is scheduled to begin this summer and will be completed incrementally over the next five years.
Many of the district’s structures are beginning to show their age. In addition to the inefficient single-pane windows, the interiors are now outdated and poor internal layouts no longer fulfill the district’s administrative and educational needs, according to the New York Real Estate Journal. Additionally, many spaces within these four schools are not ADA-compliant, lack proper security systems and don’t meet modern building codes and standards. Two schools have even been forced to rely on aging portable classrooms that present their own set of challenges.
More than $31 million will go directly to building repairs, renovations and structural work, including the replacement and renovation of deteriorated roofs, ceilings, windows, doors, heating and ventilation equipment, curbing and sidewalks, according to the New York Real Estate Journal. An additional $12.4 million will support work on dining areas and classrooms, and nearly $5 million will help reconstruct and update athletic fields, courts and facilities, improving physical education programs.
The district’s middle school in particular will receive upgrades to the library, media center, main office and guidance office interiors. The high school auditorium, nurse’s office and guidance office will undergo interior improvements. New asbestos-free flooring will be installed in one of the two elementary schools, along with new ceilings and exhaust systems, while the second elementary will receive a new multi-purpose room and classrooms, HVAC and electrical improvements, and other interior and exterior renovations.