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Houston Secondary gym renovations to be done mid-September

Investing $1.268 million, School District 54 is redoing the Houston Secondary School gym and entryway this summer.
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The renovations on the exterior of the Houston Secondary School gym are full speed ahead

The $1.268 million renovations on the Houston Secondary gym is on schedule, planned to be complete mid-September.

Ed Hildebrandt, Supervisor of Operations says the work has been a long time in coming.

"It's a building envelope upgrade," Hildebrandt said, saying that the gym walls will be made vertical instead of sloped.

"It's for better insulation and better water protection," said HSS Principal Scott Jackson.

Hildebrandt said that because of the sloped walls, water was penetrating the existing building and causing damage in the walls.

Besides straightening the walls, Hildebrandt says they are also filing the crawl space underneath the gym, sealing it with concrete and putting in water channels to bring water to sumps that will pump out the water.

He says nearly all of the work is contracted out in the Bulkley Valley, including companies like Canyon Contracting, Smithers Electric, Len Dohler Construction, and Aqua North plumbing and heating.

Jackson says that what he is looking forward to is the face lift to the entryway.

The entryway will be paved, and slightly sloped right to the doorway, and the large planter boxes will be replaced with smaller ones, Jackson said.

Jackson says the garden beds they had before were a lot of work for staff to maintain and they collected every piece of garbage that blew past.

"I'm excited… I think it's going to be nice," said Jackson, adding that as a gardener, he is excited to see what they can do with the new planter boxes.

School District 54 is also putting money into small upgrades at Silverthorne and Twain Sullivan Elementary Schools, Hildebrandt said.

At Twain Sullivan they are repairing damaged siding on the gym and adding another computer lab.

At Silverthorne they are completely redoing two of the bathrooms, with new drywall, new flooring and new toilets, sinks and urinals.

Those renovations will be done by next school year, Hildebrandt said.