In east Multnomah County, crews are taking advantage of summer to replace a pair of elementary schools. One is East Gresham Elementary, at 900 S.E. Fifth St. There, general contractor Bremik Construction is leading construction of a new, two-story school and demolition of the original single-story building, which was designed by Edmundson & Kochendoerfer and built by general contractor Johnson & Sterner in 1950.

Subcontractors are scrambling to put the finishing touches on a new, 76,000-square-foot building scheduled to open in time for the 2019-20 school year. Concrete tilt panels atop a slab-on-grade foundation and structural steel comprise the backbone of the building, which will feature 24 classrooms along with specialized learning rooms, gathering spaces and flex spaces.

The new school will also include a media center overlooking the cafeteria, a music room, a covered outdoor play area, a gymnasium, and new vehicle parking.

DLR Group designed the project for the Gresham-Barlow School District, which is paying for it with money from a $291 million bond approved by voters in 2016. Designers aimed to provide a new school with four key improvements: better daylighting and HVAC systems; a better learning environment with modern technology; better safety and security; and better parking for buses and parents’ vehicles.

Meanwhile, NorthStar, a New York City-based contractor, is handling demolition of the old school, which is riddled with asbestos in piping insulation and other items. NorthStar crews licensed by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality were required to seal off one room at a time with plastic sheeting and regulated air flow to abate the asbestos.

School district employees, meanwhile, removed furniture, cabinetry and any other equipment that might retain value. Blackboards, drywall and other materials were removed, and demolition was expected to continue through July, Bremik Construction superintendent Grant Lang said.

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An unprecedented school construction boom is taking place in Oregon, including east Multnomah County. There, voters in the Gresham-Barlow School District in 2016 approved a $291 million bond measure that is now paying for modernizations of Gresham and Sam Barlow high schools, as well as efforts to replace two elementary schools.

One of the latter projects is for North Gresham Elementary School, at 1001 S.E. 217th Ave. Currently, crews are both building a new, 77,000-square-foot school and demolishing the old one, which was built in 1957.

Bremik Construction is serving as general contractor for the project, which was designed by BBT Architects of Bend. Ground was broken in spring 2018, and completion is scheduled prior to the start of the next school year in September, Bremik project engineer Zach Beaton.

Demolition is likely to continue through July, Beaton said, as crews carefully dismantle the old single-story structure, which was built largely with concrete masonry unit (CMU) walls and interior wood framing.

BBT Architects focused on four key areas for the new building: better movement of students through the school; better daylighting and HVAC systems; modern learning spaces; and better safety and security 鈥� including a secure vestibule at the entrance along with restricted access to outdoor play areas.

The new school has a slab-on-grade foundation and 56 concrete tilt-panel walls. Capacity for the two-story building will be 550 students. The 24 classrooms are organized by grade level into four-room pods around common spaces. A media center and cafeteria, covered outdoor play area and gymnasium are among the many amenities. Staff and visitor parking as well as traffic circulation will be vastly improved from the former campus configuration, according to the project team.

The exterior is dominated by metal panels, while the interior is based on the theme of constellations and the North Star 鈥� clustered, flexible spaces becoming 鈥渋ntersections of activity.鈥�

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The Sam Barlow High School renovation and expansion in east Multnomah County has come a long way in a year.

There’s still another year of work to go. But construction of the project’s most conspicuous element 鈥� a new two-story, 57,000-square-foot science classroom wing 鈥� is in its final stages as crews of drywall finishers, painters, carpenters, electricians and others apply finishing touches. Designed by Opsis Architecture, the new wing is expected to be completed before the start of the 2019-20 school year in September.

The $54 million project is being paid for with money from Gresham-Barlow School District‘s $291 million bond approved by voters in 2016.

鈥淭his week is the end of the school (year), so we’re happy about that,鈥� Mike Levesque, project manager for general contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis said. 鈥淭hen we can start demolition and abatement.鈥�

Over the summer, crews will work inside the existing 51-year-old building, and remove hazardous material, including asbestos, to prepare special education classrooms and administrative spaces for renovation during the 2019-20 school year.

鈥淚t’s mainly the floor mastic,鈥� Levesque said. 鈥淭he ceilings and floors are the primary thing. We’re taking all that out and then we go in and demo out the old administration (spaces) and classrooms.鈥�

Other work will involve finishing installation of a new steel-framed football stadium grandstand and press box, a new FieldTurf playing surface and a new track. A new concessions building also will be built.

The school auditorium, meanwhile, is undergoing a complete renovation. New lighting and sound systems are being installed along with a new stage and new seating. The refurbished facility is expected to reopen this fall.

In addition, a roughly 3,300-foot-long sewer line will be installed to connect the high school with Gresham’s sewer main. For decades the school has been sending daily shipments of tanked sewage to the city’s wastewater treatment plant on Northeast Sandy Boulevard. That practice will finally come to an end with installation of a new line that will serve only the high school.

The two-year project is scheduled to finish by end of summer 2020 with completion of renovations to the school media center, library, black box theater, and performing arts, band and choir spaces. In addition, the rest of the school’s existing classrooms will be receive new floors and ceilings, information technology equipment and more.

鈥淭hey’re going to move into the new building for next year and then we’re clearing out and re-doing the rest,鈥� Levesque said.

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At Sam Barlow High School in Gresham, Lease Crutcher Lewis is serving as general contractor for a $54 million renovation and expansion of the 50-year-old campus. But in addition to building structural improvements, the firm is building relationships with students who could eventually step into professional careers in the industry.

Lease Crutcher Lewis project manager Mike Levesque and assistant superintendent Matt Hockett have joined Barlow High School career coordinator LindaLee Frazier and others to offer luncheons for students possibly interested in construction careers. Basic information is presented, tours of the construction site are given and pizza is provided.

鈥淲e meet, we talk about the project and we walk (the site) really quick because it’s during their lunch period,鈥� Levesque said. 鈥淭hen we come back, they have pizza and they ask questions and we ask questions just to get them interested and thinking about careers and how construction is not just a hammer and saw.鈥�

Last week, at least three students stayed behind after the third and final construction luncheon of the semester to express interest in joining the industry. One student even had a solid plan for attending college and then becoming a construction manager.

鈥淭hat was great,鈥� Levesque said.

The luncheons developed as an adjunct to a wider Gresham-Barlow School District initiative done in partnership with Lease Crutcher Lewis and the Associated General Contractors’ Oregon-Columbia chapter. With use of the Barlow project as a working lab, the Career Pathway Pilot Program is engaging students in the school’s construction, autoCAD and marketing classes that together make up part of the career and technical education (CTE) curriculum. Lewis employees have led students through numerous job walks, forklift training exercises and excavation training exercises.

In addition to hands-on education, the pilot program has provided students an inside look at the construction industry and its many trades. In total, 49 students participated in the three aforementioned courses during the 2018-19 school year.

鈥淚 think it’s been huge,鈥� Frazier said. 鈥淣ot only has the metals class gone through (the job site), the woods, carpentry and construction students also went through several times and we had Matt stopping in and helping. When I learned Lease Crutcher Lewis was willing to do this, I was like 鈥業 want to get more kids involved.’鈥�

The Career Pathway Pilot Program was formed to address the long-term shortage of skilled tradespeople in the construction industry. The concurrent lack of dedicated trades education and training in the public school system has left individual districts and contractors more or less to their own devices when it comes to forging a solution.

That has led Gresham-Barlow School District to pursue a more active CTE curriculum as it uses $291 million in 2016 bond money to renovate and replace schools. This includes new wood and metals shops at Barlow and a new automotive shop at Gresham High School, as well as revamped marketing courses and classroom space.

The hope is that by partnering the Career Pathway Pilot Program and others, students will not only learn about potential careers in construction and manufacturing, but also remain engaged in school.

The pilot program was introduced at three schools for the 2018-19 school year.

At Powell Valley Elementary School, a class of fourth-grade students learned to construct simple furniture using 3-D modeling online. Russell Middle School students also used 3-D modeling to construct a model of an entire house. And Barlow High School construction students were tasked with building their own garden shed with the goal of recouping the cost of materials through its sale.

鈥淭hey’re exposing the students early on,鈥� Levesque said. 鈥淭he earlier they can be exposed to different opportunities then they have alternate routes. They can go to college and get a degree or you can also do this if you enjoy working with your hands and decide you want something different.鈥�

It’s all about choices, Frazier said. In addition to the Career Pathway Pilot Program, the district has offered students interested in construction careers a chance to attend a summer camp of sorts. Participants will work full time with contractors during an eight-week course and be paid for their efforts.

鈥淭he more experience we can give them now with careers, whether it’s construction tours or something like that,鈥� she said, 鈥渢he more prepared they are for making a career decision for the next step.鈥�

To bolster their case, Frazier and Levesque enlisted the help of Amy Haddox, a third-term apprentice electrician with Local 48. She is part of EC Electric‘s crew working on the Barlow project. She’s also taking advantage of the project to share her own experience with students and help lead tours of the jobsite.

Haddox took the traditional college path, graduating from UCLA with a degree in environmental science and going on to earn a master’s degree. But that ultimately put her behind a desk, where she quickly learned she was never going to be content.

鈥淚 was just out in the world trying to get by,鈥� she said.

Then Haddox attended a pre-apprenticeship class offered by Oregon Tradeswomen Inc., and used that as a springboard into an apprenticeship with IBEW Local 48. Now, she’s looking forward to a career with far more security 鈥� and enjoyment.

鈥淚 was thinking outside the box about what would work better for me,鈥� she told assembled students last week, noting that upon finishing her apprenticeship she will be making twice as much money as she made at her previous job requiring a master’s degree.

鈥淚 get to problem-solve all day and I get to work outdoors,鈥� she told students. 鈥淚t’s a lot closer, honestly, to what I wanted to do in environmental science than what I was doing at a desk job processing rebate applications.鈥�

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General contractor Bremik Construction is seeking bids from subcontractors for a number of scopes of work related to the Hollydale Elementary School classroom addition project in Gresham.

The project includes an addition containing six classrooms as well as interior and exterior renovations and associated site work. For the current phase of work, roofing-related trades will not be included.

Scopes included are: surveying; selective structure demolition; erosion and sediment control; cast-in-place concrete, supply and installation of reinforcing steel; polished concrete; brick veneer; structural and miscellaneous steel; aluminum ladders; rough carpentry; casework, countertops and paneling; vapor retarder; insulation; weather barrier; unit skylights, metal-framed skylights; caulking; expansion control; doors, frames and hardware; storefront and glazing assemblies; access doors; metal stud framing; temporary heating; ceramic tile; resinous flooring; resilient base and carpeting; painting and sealants; marker boards and tack boards; interior signage; compartments and cubicles; toilet accessories; fire extinguishers and cabinets; bicycle shelters; kitchen equipment and supply; roller window shades; fire sprinklers; plumbing; HVAC; electrical and low voltage; site demolition, earth work and utilities; asphalt paving; site striping; chain-link fences and gates; site concrete, curbs and gutters; landscape and irrigation; progressive general construction clean up and site services.

A pre-bid conference is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 1 at the project site, at 505 S.W. Birdsdale Drive in Gresham.

BBL Architects designed the project, which is being paid for with money from a $291 million Gresham-Barlow School District bond approved by voters in 2016.

Construction is tentatively set to begin April 22, and be substantially completed by Dec. 13.

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The Gresham-Barlow School District is building two new elementary schools this year with money from a $291 million bond measure approved by district voters in 2016. Ground has been broken on the first facility: North Gresham Elementary School on Southeast 217th Avenue.

This new school, which is being built to replace an existing one, will include: better classroom layouts to improve student flow, improved daylight and HVAC systems, a better learning environment stocked with modern technology, and safety and security upgrades. The latter will provide secured entry to playing fields and the playground, a secured entry vestibule and improved bus parking and parental pick-up areas.

Last week, crews with general contractor Bremik Construction and LaRusso Concrete, subcontracted for the place and finish of concrete, poured the first set of concrete panels for the tilt-up structure. A total of 56 panels will be poured before a lift day scheduled for next month. Construction will continue throughout the current school year and the new facility is expected to open in time for the 2019-20 school year.

In addition to general contractor Bremik Construction, the project team includes BBT Architects and Cornerstone Management, which is performing construction management for the school district.

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