Ground broken on MFL MarMac elementary addition
Ground was broken last week on MFL MarMac’s elementary remodel and addition project. The building’s west entrance is now blocked off and footings are being placed, in preparation for construction of new restrooms. The remodel will also include an office complex with a safe entrance on the east side of the building along with a conference room and open space, foyer area. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
Ground was broken last week on MFL MarMac’s elementary remodel and addition project.
The building’s west entrance is now blocked off, in preparation for construction of new restrooms.
According to elementary principal Kathy Koether, work on the restrooms won’t officially start until May 1, at which time that hallway will be closed off. Students and staff will have to use other restrooms the final few weeks of the school year.
Students also access the west entrance to get to recess and it’s where buses are loaded and unloaded. Now, said Koether, “The bus drivers know where to place the buses, and the second and third graders are coming in the high school wing and coming around to their rooms. We have everyone else going out the kindergarten door entrance/exit. I think our routine has already been established.”
Koether added that the goal is to have the restrooms substantially completed by the time school starts on Aug. 23.
“So fingers crossed for that,” she said. “That’s why we wanted to get started early.”
In addition to new restrooms, the elementary remodel will include an office complex with a safe entrance on the east side of the building along with a conference room and open space, foyer area. Brenton Builders of Monona is the contractor for the $1,189,000 project.
Koether said the east entrance will stay as it is until the conclusion of the school year, then it too will be fenced off. Construction there will start with ground and concrete work, before moving inside in the fall.
As a result of the timeline, the circle drive at the east entrance will be out of commission for much of the 2022-2023 school year, stated superintendent Dale Crozier. With the office upgrades, staff will also be displaced for a bit.
“We can’t do it all in the summer,” he explained. “The big picture is to get the bathrooms done and the rest by February. But you can’t predict supply side issues.”
At a previous school board meeting, Crozier called the upgrades practical.
“They are things we’ve needed for a long time,” he said.
The project has been in the works for around three years, and was included in the district’s strategic plan at least six years ago.
“I’m really excited about the project and the work that’s going to be done,” Koether added.
