An $832 million capital-improvement project in the Indianapolis Public Schools system is so vast that it is expected to run through 2011.

Work started in 2002, and the two-phase program will result in new schools and infrastructure upgrades and renovations to each of the 79 existing facilities, said Debra Kunce, program manager for Indianapolis-based Schmidt Associates Inc., an architecture firm. Financing for the $250 million phase one, which runs through 2006, was obtained through a bond issue.

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Alternative financing is being sought for phase two, and discussions are being held with the local Chamber of Commerce on funding options.

The venture is the fruit of community and internal meetings that started in the late 1990s, said Steve Young, chief of facilities management for IPS, which currently has an enrollment of slightly more than 40,000 students in kindergarten through high school. Input was sought from parents, business groups, teachers and others on a strategic plan for the schools, and improvements to educational quality were identified as the No. 1 goal.

"The board realized that there were several things they needed to do to try to improve student achievement," he said.

Schmidt Associates was selected as the program manager, and a facilities analysis was initiated.

Outdated Schools

Several findings emerged, including the portrait of a district with out-of-date facilities.

"A large number" of the district's elementary schools are greater than 75 years old, and some are even approaching a century of use, Young said.

About 90 percent of existing buildings will be retained, but those schools in excessively poor condition are being replaced.

Three approximately $12 million each elementary schools are under way - James Whitcomb Riley, Riverside and Eleanor Skillen. They will replace schools with the same names and be complete in 2005. Another school, Brookside, is expected to start in the fall and for completion in 2006.

The site constraints on the James Whitcomb Riley project are difficult because the existing school is next to the new one, said Ray Kramp, vice president of Indianapolis-based Smoot Construction LLC, the construction manager.

The choreography for the new school includes use of the existing school. The garden was selected to stage some materials and locate trailers, and the playground was used for faculty parking. Construction employees park offsite, and most materials arrive as they are needed.

"Then we have to tear down the old school to complete the construction of the new one," Young added.

New facilities were also needed because of a slight increase in enrollment expected during an ongoing phase-out of a desegregation order, Young said. Students who had been bused for more than 20 years from city communities to surrounding districts are returning to the IPS system.

As a result, plans call for two new elementary schools, Brightwood and Haughville.
Though work has not yet started on them, the targeted completion date is 2006.

"These two new schools are being built in areas where we formerly had schools but were closed when students were bused out of the district," Young added.

A Look at High Schools

The need for facility improvements applied to the high schools, too.

Instruction at the Arsenal Technical High School dates to the 1910s when former U.S. Army munitions facilities were used for teaching, though the campus' existing Treadwell Hall was erected in the 1920s and Stuart Hall in the 1930s.

A key problem in the secondary schools was the aging infrastructure. The original heating and electrical systems in Arlington High School, which was erected on the East Side in 1961, were still in use when the $25 million renovation began in May, said David Green, project manager for Indianapolis-based Geupel Demars Hagerman LLC, a joint-venture Arlington construction manager.

And, materials and finishes were antiquated. The glazed tiles in Arlington's hallways are so old that their colors are no longer available.

"Some of those hallways have what I call Brady Bunch colors," Green added.

In addition to Arsenal Tech and Arlington, renovations have started on Broad Ripple High School and John Hope Day Adult High School. Renovations will start later on Emmerich Manual High School and Northwest High School.

Thirty-six buildings will have been impacted during the first phase of renovations. The per-school cost ranges between $250,000 and $25 million.

Focus on Labs, A/C

Two elements of critical importance have emerged in planning and will receive special attention during renovations.

Laboratories will have been improved in the existing middle and high schools because the state plans to incorporate the testing of science knowledge in standardized exams that students must pass to receive their diplomas, Schmidt Associates' Kunce said. In phase one, the completed upgrade of laboratories was done in 23 middle schools and seven high schools for $6 million.

These improvements will likely pay dividends in the local market. Major Indianapolis employers include medical-product giants, such as Eli Lilly and Co. and Guidant Corp., and automotive component firms including Rolls Royce and Allison Transmission/GMC.

Another key part to the renovations is that air conditioning will be installed in each existing school. Most do not already have it.

"We think there is a direct correlation between the physical environment from a conditioned standpoint that students get into when they're taking tests, and we need to bring our buildings up to that standard and give them that extra boost kids get in other districts," Kunce said.

Integrating the HVAC ductwork and piping into the 300,000-sq.-ft. Arlington school represents a problem for the construction team, Green said. Existing spaces for utility lines were too small, so ceilings were lowered. A 2,800-sq.-ft. chiller building was also erected next to the school, rather than having the components incorporated within.

"Back when this was built, nobody thought of technology," he added. "Now you got hot-water lines and cooling lines [for the air conditioning.] They both take up massive space."

Other renovation activities will focus on classrooms, accessibility, restrooms, security, playgrounds, distance learning and vocational facilities.

Minimizing the renovation's impact was considered, especially since the renovations to the high schools could take more than two years, Kunce said.

No more than 10 to 13 classrooms undergo renovation work at any one time because spaces are maxed out when students are shifted around. At Arsenal Tech, only second-shift work is done, and multiple shifts are scheduled at all schools when students are not present.

"To say it's crazy during the summer is probably an understatement," Kunce added.

Designed for Students

Key guidelines emerged for the schools' design.

"We spent a significant time on our mechanical system by asking our engineers to look at long-term operational costs and how we can reduce these," Kunce said. "If we save $40,000 a year in building utility costs, then we can hire another teacher."

Systems were considered based on a number of factors, including initial cost but also long-term cost effectiveness.

For instance, occupancy sensors and other building controls were selected because of the potential cost savings in the long term, the IPS' Young said. But cogeneration plants that would have provided schools with their own energy were deemed unfeasible.

The layout was designed in the small-learning-community format so that particular teachers and programs, such as technology or arts, are grouped in an area, Kunce said.

At Arlington High School, incorporating the concept has resulted in building new offices and administrative support areas and updating rooms with technology, said Green, the project manager from Geupel Demars Hagerman.

Also, spaces were established for the community. And, durability was sought so masonry was a primary building material.

"The board made it clear that they do not want cookie-cutter schools, but we do have expectations from a maintenance perspective," Kunce said.

Because of the project's complexity, the Constructware Web-based project management system is being used. It was employed in design and construction to post all communications, such as photographs, design changes and requests for proposals.

"Our rule is if it's not on Constructware, it doesn't exist," Kunce said.