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Poinsettia Elementary Construction on Schedule

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 May 2006, 18:00 CDT

By Philip K. Ireland, North County Times, Escondido, Calif.

May 2--CARLSBAD ---- Construction of Poinsettia Elementary School is moving forward on schedule and on budget, the Carlsbad Unified School District's director of construction said Monday.

Installation of underground utilities ---- electrical, gas, water, sewer and storm drains ---- is complete and the foundations of three six-classroom buildings and the kindergarten building have been poured, said Robb Todd, who oversees the district's building program.

"Technically, we're out of the ground on the classroom buildings, and that's a milestone," he said.

Work on the project is expected to wrap up by the end of the year and the campus is set to open in September 2007.

Poinsettia Elementary will serve between 550 and 700 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, Todd said. He said the new school should help alleviate some of the overcrowding in the district's southern sector.

About 100 students currently attending Kelly Elementary School live within Poinsettia's boundaries, and will transfer to the new school when it opens.

The Carlsbad school board awarded the $15.6 million construction project to Edge Development Inc. of Temecula in January.

Contractors are scheduled to complete construction and hand over keys for the 49,000-square-foot school on Poinsettia Lane between Mica and Quartz roads by Dec. 15. The district had planned to open the school in January 2007, but has since decided that a mid-school-year move would be too disruptive to students.

Over the next few weeks, Edge will install electrical and plumbing systems for the administration building and kitchen.

Todd said contractors hope to pour the foundations for those buildings next week.

Also planned next week is installation of a methane collection system that will prevent any gas from collecting under the buildings, Todd said.

Preliminary testing of the soil in February 2005 revealed trace amounts of methane at some places on the 10-acre site. Methane is nontoxic but can be flammable in concentration, Todd said in September. The finding required additional testing and inspection by the state Department of Toxic Substance Control.

As a condition of construction on the site, the district was required to develop and implement a plan for gas collection.

The membrane barrier will channel any methane gas that percolates up through the ground to vents that will release the gas into the air above the buildings. Todd said the district recently received final approval of the plan from the state Department of Toxic Substance Control.

Framers will begin building walls in two to three weeks.

The school will be similar in design and construction to Calavera Hills Elementary with three buildings of six classrooms each.

The kindergarten classrooms and play area will be separate from the rest of the school. The school will have an administration building, a kitchen, multipurpose room and library. All buildings will be air-conditioned and wired for data and telephone.

But, unlike Calavera Hills, the new school will have separate buildings for the before- and after-school program and the special education program, Todd said.

The school qualifies for property and construction refunds from the state, Todd said.

The state will reimburse the district for half of the $10.25 million it paid for the Poinsettia site, said Gaylen Freeman, the school district's deputy superintendent of business services.

Freeman said he believes the district will be able to recoup between 30 percent and 40 percent of the $15.6 million in construction costs from the state, too. Todd said residential developer fees and district construction funds will also help pay for the school.

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Copyright (c) 2006, North County Times, Escondido, Calif.

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Source: North County Times

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