Renovations to McKinley High School on Elmwood south of Amherst Street, which began in April of this year and are scheduled for completion in August of 2012, will give the school a brand new entrance and four story addition. Originally constructed in 1964 to house a traditional vocational school, McKinley Comprehensive High School of Choice was designed without a formal entrance. The new addition will serve to remedy this problem by providing a covered pedestrian walkway through a canopied entry court into the new main lobby. The three upper floors of the addition will house 20 new classrooms.
The $50 million renovation and expansion project will boast several green elements as well. The addition will be topped off by a green roof capable of harvesting rainwater. New water filtration systems in the planned parking lot upgrade, along with the green roof, will collect, filter, and redistribute storm water into the nearby Scajaquada River. The school's four greenhouses will be outfitted with new heating and ventilation systems while one of the existing greenhouses will be replaced with a new facility featuring new HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and liquid fertilizer systems. A new outdoor courtyard in the center of the four story addition will provide classroom space for integrated horticulture, humanities, and science study. Also, energy-efficient lighting systems will be installed throughout the facility.
In addition to the new construction, the existing facility will undergo major renovations. The school's auditorium will be revamped with new seats, curtains, lighting and sound systems. Improvements to the library will include new wood shelving, computers, a new circulation desk as well as new office space. An expanded cafeteria will feature larger windows as well an updated kitchen. The renovation will also include a new virtual business classroom as well as a relocated media lab and eight updated science labs. An existing machine shop will be split into two visual art studios while another will be repurposed as a new fitness room. Current locker rooms will receive new lockers, showers and restrooms and the natatorium will receive new pumps and filtration systems. Music classrooms will replace the current fitness room and the existing instrumental and choral music classrooms will be renovated and expanded. Handicap accessibility will be expanded throughout the school as well.
A topping off ceremony, attended by Mckinley High School Principal Crystal Barton and various representatives of the Board of Education, Buffalo Public Schools, and LP Ciminelli, the project's construction manager, was held on October 5th as a signed I-beam was placed atop the new structure. Cannon Design is project architect.
Wow, if the district would put as much time and effort into improving the academic results of the schools as they do renovating them, we'd be getting somewhere.
Improving academic performance is a lot easier when you have more than two working microscopes in your science lab.
$50 million will buy a lot of microscopes
My hypothesis on what they're doing is renovate the old schools to attract teachers of a higher caliber, and then improve school results. But I do agree with you, the education should come first.
Again, facilities are part of education. You cannot effectively teach kids chemistry without a functional chemistry lab. You can't teach typing or computer skills without a computer lab.
The BPS renovations are finally bringing the city school facilities closer to par with those of wealthier districts, making them a more attractive choice to families who have options to choose from. These aren't just cosmetic building renovations.