by Joan Martin
The third general meeting of the Parent and Teacher Association (PAT) this academic year was held on February 27 and focused exclusively on planned renovations to school facilities at 375 Pearl Street. Head of School Michael Nill, members of the School’s Building committee, and architects Paul Segal and Michael Pribyl were on hand to share plans, answer questions, and engage in a dialogue with parents about exciting changes that will enhance the teaching and learning environment at BFS. On the drawing board are the following projects (shown at the right, from top to bottom):
1. A brand new roof and new rooftop playground with a poured surface, new play equipment, new fencing, new plantings, and new finishes. This work will take place in the summer months and children will return to a transformed play area in September 2006.
2. A renovated and greatly expanded Library Media Center on the third floor. Library space will be doubled, and a seminar-style classroom and large conference/meeting room – both equipped with Smartboards – will be added. Shelving for books, periodicals and reference materials will be expanded and quiet reading, research, and study areas will be re-arranged for ease of use. The new space will include a school archives room and a work/prep room for faculty. This work also will take place in the summer months, with a scheduled completion date of September 2006.
3. Air conditioning the 5th, 6th, and 7th floors. This project will complete a plan that had been started several years ago when the 1st, Mezzanine, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors were centrally air-conditioned. The goal was to have this work completed over Summer 2006, but unexpected and rapidly escalating costs for this complex project have interfered with the timing. The Building Committee and architects are committed to finding a solution to this impediment and are investigating different central systems as well as individual air-conditioning units. It will take a significant amount of time to work through the details and come up with a system that will be satisfactory in terms of cooling, sound, placement, and long-term energy costs, and unfortunately, the project will not take place this summer as planned.
4. Renovation of the science laboratories on the 4th floor. This plan will upgrade, furnish, and reconfigure the biology, chemistry, and earth science /physical science laboratories. The design emphasizes flexibility within the space and attention to environmental concerns. The area for teacher demonstrations will be expanded, and group and collaborative work will be encouraged within the new space. While these labs are used for instruction of Middle and Upper School students, there is room in the design to add a separate Lower School science exploratory lab in the suite of science labs. It is expected that this work may take place in Summer 2007.
5. Enhancing and renovating the Meeting House. Plans for renovating the Meeting House/Theater at 375 Pearl Street are the most ambitious and costly. The anticipated improvements include an expanded house size and increased seating capacity, a new lift and accessible seating, and new interior finishes enhancing appearance, comfort, acoustics and durability. There are plans for new air-conditioning providing comfort, control, and enhanced acoustics, and increased electric power and circuitry. The theater arts and performing arts program will benefit greatly from new house and stage lighting with integrated controls and a dedicated equipment room; a new climate controlled sound booth and technologically advanced equipment; new A/V equipment and sound enhancement; an expanded back-of-house with new dressing rooms, workspace, storage, and washer/dryer; a new wood performing arts floor, stage, and rigging improvements. The timing for this major project cannot be estimated at this time, but there was an overwhelming sentiment from the parents attending the PAT Meeting that it should proceed as quickly as possible.
Funding for these major projects will come from the school’s capital campaign, which will be announced officially at the BFS Spring Benefit on May 1, 2006.