Franklin High School was built in the heart of Southeast Portland in 1915. The school was extensively remodeled in the 1980s, but eventually ended up in need of upgrades and modernization.

The 2012 Portland Public Schools bond was the result of community involvement with the goal of improving schools in the district along a broad range of criteria. At Franklin, part of the modernization aimed to reconfigure and update the facility with a focus on environmental quality, sustainability and historic preservation.

More than 1,700 students currently attend Franklin, but that number is expected to grow. So the modernization project was tackled in a way that could accommodate a future increase in enrollment. The redesign also aimed to address changing needs of both students and the changing face of the educational curriculum. A new feature at the school, courtesy of the modernization project, for example, is a culinary arts learning space, where students can learn about nutrition while also learning how to prepare meals.

The $113 million Franklin modernization also included a new performing and fine arts center, a two-story entry lobby that doubles as a commons area, realignment of an existing outdoor athletic track by 90 degrees to accommodate a new gym and educational facility, repurposing the original auditorium as a media center, full seismic reinforcement, and fully integrating ADA access throughout the campus. Traditional lighting was replaced with LEDs and rooftop solar panels were installed to generate power for the school.

Submitted by: CBRE/Heery

Location: Portland, Oregon

Project cost: $113 million

Start date: June 2015

Completion date: August 2017

Owner/developer: Portland Public Schools

Project/construction management: CBRE/Heery

Architect: DOWA/IBI Group, SERA

Landscape architect: Mayer/Reed

Engineers: KPFF Consulting Engineers (civil, structural), PAE (plumbing), Reyes Engineering (electrical)

General contractor: Skanska USA Building Inc.

Other associates: KELSAY, Morrison-Herschfield, Pla Designs Inc., Scheduling and Information Services Inc., The Greenbush Group

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The modernization of Franklin High School is the largest school construction project going in the Portland area and the largest of the four main projects funded by a bond approved by voters in 2012, in both size (279,000 square feet) and dollar amount ($112 million). Much effort has gone into preserving the exterior appearance and layout of the 100-year school, but crews are otherwise building anew.

“We’re trying to match all the brickwork to keep the historic look from the outside,” said Johnny Metoyer, senior project manager for owner’s representative Heery International. “Internally though, it’s pretty much a full gut.”

To comply with historic preservation guidelines and mandates to comb out all lead and asbestos – as well as the nostalgic will of the Franklin community – the team renovating the school has had to walk a fine line to deliver Portland Public Schools a modern facility.

New track on track

Architect DOWA-IBI Group emerged from meetings with the project’s Design Advisory Group with two main directives: keep as much of Franklin’s historic colonial revival look as possible, and – as reiterated many times – replace the running track.

“I sat through many DAG meetings and the community was very adamant about that track,” said Ken Fisher, Heery’s program manager for the PPS bond program.

One of Franklin’s quirks has long been its four-bank, “NASCAR-style” track – think: four straightaways – that have prevented the school from hosting official athletic events. A new oval-shaped track will enable state records to be set at the school. Other new athletic amenities include new batting cages for the ball fields and new grandstands for the football field.

The State Historic Preservation Office also had lots of input on project design. It required that all historic windows be cleaned and renovated. Also, the main building’s “spine” must remain intact.

David Mayne, PPS spokesman for the bond program, said preserving the building’s historic appearance is a priority, but not just because it’s required by the state.

“We’re doing it because that’s what the community wanted,” he said. “We designed the project around what the community wanted.”

Skanska was brought on early in the design phase as construction manager-general contractor to advise on constructability and pricing. Portland Public Schools has an aspiration project goal of 18 percent participation by minority contractors.

Franklin High School is scheduled to “go online” in time for the 2017-18 academic year. In late August, Franklin staffers and students began their second school year in the Marshall High School facility, in Southeast Portland. When that contingent moves out, its counterparts at Grant High School will move in while a modernization of its facility takes place; that project is still in the design phase.

For now, Franklin houses 200-plus predominantly-union construction workers a day. The old track serves as their parking lot.

Expecting the unexpected

A major aspect of the project is the new gymnasium building, which will contain athletic space and biomedical classrooms, to match an expanded academic focus on health and wellness. The culinary curriculum, for instance, will be expanded to better prepare students for careers in food service. Large exhaust hoods – like those found in a commercial kitchen – were installed in the Franklin teaching kitchen.

The gym itself is massive – 45 feet from floor to ceiling – and large enough to hold the school’s 1,700 students collectively. This month, a tangle of temporary plastic ductwork was piping in heat to condition and dehumidify the space ahead of gym floor installation.

“What you don’t want to have is moisture when you’re putting in a wood floor,” Metoyer said.

Elevators were being installed in the gym building. Upon project completion, Franklin will have five elevators (an existing one is being brought up to code) and two wheelchair lifts (one will access the auditorium’s orchestra pit). The project contract also calls for returning the clock in the school’s landmark tower to working order.

The language of the 2012 bond also calls for seismic remediation of Franklin. Less than half of the project is new construction, so shear walls are being added – basement to roof – in the old education building, and the roofs are being tied together.

When adapting old buildings to modern use, original plans don’t serve as the best guidance, Metoyer said. Fewer building codes and safety concerns existed a century ago, though the quality of craftsmanship was high.

“The challenge with an old facility is when you open it up, you find things that aren’t documented,” Metoyer said. “Sometimes it’s not built the way it’s documented. So you have to adjust your designs a little to meet the requirements of the project. It’s been one of the biggest challenges we’ve had on this project. But that’s why the team is here, to work through all that.”

Removing all asbestos and lead from the building has represented another significant challenge. Franklin was built under a city mandate for fireproof schools. As such, it’s chock-full of asbestos – a fire suppressant now known to be a health hazard.

“We spent a significant amount of money on asbestos abatement,” Fisher said.

All the building’s piping will be replaced, from the connections at the street to the fixtures inside. Most of the old walls containing lead paint have been taken down. What remains will be sealed and painted over.

Skanska was impacted a little by the ongoing construction labor shortage, but managed to work with unions enough to avoid schedule impacts. Three to five days were lost in the past winter when wet weather rendered the site inaccessible, but workers have made up the time and are on track for substantial completion on May 25, 2017. At that point, the standard close-out procedure will begin.

First is the punch list, where scuffed floors and flickering lights will be given attention. Then furniture will be loaded up and items like the school’s wooden Ben Franklin statue will be removed from storage and reinstalled. Also, the building’s heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems will be tested prior to certificates of occupation being granted by the city and other regulatory agencies. The buildings should be “student-ready” by Aug. 1, giving teachers and staff a few days to adjust to all the changes.

“It’ll be here before we know it,” Fisher said.

Franklin High School

Size: 279,000 square feet

Cost: $112 million

Owner: Portland Public Schools

Contractor: Skanska

Architect: DOWA-IBI Group

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Benjamin Franklin is said to have said, “All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.”

The early American Renaissance man is remembered as a mover. Recently, Franklin’s 110-ton, sandstone likeness at his namesake school in Portland was relocated temporarily and then returned as part of a bond-funded project to renovate 150,000 square feet.

The statue move has been the most challenging and interesting element of the Franklin High School modernization, according to senior project manager Trevor Wyckoff. Ben had to be moved about 80 feet to the south so work on football field realignment could proceed. The site was excavated last year, and the statue placed on supports and moved uphill to a temporary location.

“It was actually fairly challenging,” Wyckoff said. “When we moved him the first time, we were not aware how big the foundation was. So when we went to move him the first time, we dug and we just kept digging and digging. We found the foundation was absolutely enormous.”

Crews changed equipment and process. A specialty contractor was brought in, and supports engineered. The eventual move was completely in about half the expected time – about two hours.

Franklin, a 102-year-old facility, is being thoroughly gutted and renovated during the $104 million reconstruction project. Skanska‘s charge has been to preserve the building’s historic look while modernizing the mechanical, electrical and structural systems, and updating seismic and technological systems. The gym is getting a pre-fabricated roof.

New buildings will be added, including a Center for the Arts at the intersection of Southeast Woodward Street and 52nd Avenue.

Franklin’s historic auditorium will be preserved, though converted to a two-story media center. The entrance to the original main building will be transformed into a two-story entry and lobby space. The school’s track and field will be realigned 90 degrees to make room for a new gym and educational facility as well as new classroom spaces.

The design team features DOWA-IBI Group and SERA Architects. Plans call for completion by fall 2017. During construction, Franklin students are attending classes at Marshall High School, which was closed in 2011 but has since been upgraded using bond money.

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