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 – a new two-story, 57,000-square-foot science classroom wing – 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.

“This week is the end of the school (year), so we’re happy about that,” Mike Levesque, project manager for general contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis said. “Then we can start demolition and abatement.”

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.

“It’s mainly the floor mastic,” Levesque said. “The 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.”

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.

“They’re going to move into the new building for next year and then we’re clearing out and re-doing the rest,” 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.

“We meet, we talk about the project and we walk (the site) really quick because it’s during their lunch period,” Levesque said. “Then 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.”

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.

“That was great,” 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.

“I think it’s been huge,” Frazier said. “Not 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 ‘I want to get more kids involved.’”

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.

“They’re exposing the students early on,” Levesque said. “The 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.”

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.

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

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.

“I was just out in the world trying to get by,” 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 – and enjoyment.

“I was thinking outside the box about what would work better for me,” 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.

“I get to problem-solve all day and I get to work outdoors,” she told students. “It’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.”

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The Gresham-Barlow School District is currently investing money from a $291 million bond, approved by voters in 2016, at two of its high schools.

While Fortis Construction is carrying out a modernization of Gresham High School near downtown, Lease Crutcher Lewis is serving as general contractor for a modernization of Sam Barlow High School slightly east of city limits.

Opsis Architecture designed the upgrades for Barlow High School, which opened in 1968. It’s gaining 57,000 square feet of classroom space as well as improvements in existing classrooms. Modern security features are being installed, and the auditorium is being gutted to accommodate refreshment. Also, the football stadium, grandstand and track are receiving major improvements.

Ground was broken in May 2018. Currently, crews are busy framing the interior of the new two-story science classroom and administrative wing, while MEP subcontractors install electrical, HVAC, plumbing and other mechanical systems.

Outside, ironworkers are erecting a new set of steel bleachers and press box for the football stadium. Also, new lighting and FieldTurf are being installed for use beginning in the next school year.

Project completion is expected by February 2020, according to the school district.

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