JoANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Saturday, August 19, 2006 7:00 pm
Students, parents, teachers, alumni and administrators have waited a long time for this: the scooping out, under Room C112 for a new mechanical room in the basement, the closing off of the south half of hallways D and F, the digging of geothermal wells in a practice football field, the gutting of the old wrestling room.
It means change is on the way to Lincoln Southeast in the form of cooler classrooms in the warm weather, warmer classrooms in the cool weather, hot water in the bathrooms, a commons area and a little equity, thank you very much.
It also means some inconvenience. Students are losing 60 parking spaces for a while, to make way for four portable classrooms that have been moved from the south side. But seniors still can claim a space, said Principal Pat Hunter-Pirtle.
And some practices may have to be relocated.
The wrestling room will be relocated in Prasch Activities Center, but should be ready for the winter season.
And while the students aren’t getting a new cafeteria or snack shop in the $23 million renovation, they will get a new commons area by the south gym, and a new entrance on the east side of the school.
Edith Zumwalt, LPS nutrition services director, said the snack shop wouldn’t be open enough hours to justify the work. It would be open only in the mornings and over lunch. Kids don’t have enough time between classes to purchase snacks or water.
The D and F hallways, which house social studies, English and world language classrooms, are getting a complete facelift. Hazardous material is being removed, where 20 classrooms are being gutted to make way for new ceilings, windows, doors, new rubber flooring, lighting, fire sprinklers, ductwork and phone/data/intercom improvements.
“It’s fun to be part of the process,” said Hunter-Pirtle.
Other work being done now or in the next two years:
* A 7,500 square-foot addition on the southwest end of the school will hold family and consumer science and regular classrooms. The first floor will hold a foods lab and a textiles lab. It will open a year from now.
* Lockers will be painted all the same color to unify the building.
* Second semester, C and E hallways will close for renovation. But students will have access to the media center, which was remodeling in 1995.
* The north half of hallways D and F will be closed for renovation a year from now.
* The weight room will be enlarged.
* Gyms will be cooled, but not air-conditioned.
* The performing arts center will be redone, with new larger seats, a new ceiling, new rigging and other changes. The Marxhausen sculpture, a gift of the class of 1976, will be moved to the new commons area.
Outside of construction, the school will welcome a new associate principal: Erik Witt, a 1997 Southeast grad who most recently taught at Lincoln North Star, where he was also an assistant special education coordinator.
Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.