Today’s Spotlight on HSD Facilities is about adaptive reuse*, teamwork, and possibilities. Instead of illustrating how our staff maintains our facilities, today’s feature shows how staff has worked together to maximize a facility.
This fall, parents came to the HSD School Board to express concern about the health of student-athletes and our district’s ability to prevent and respond to injuries. While we have struggled to find an athletic trainer, the HSD has taken steps to strengthen its system that supports the health and safety of secondary students involved in sports (and PE). Part of this system relates to equipment…and facilities.
Here’s the background info: The HSD operates and offers its existing programs on a thin financial margin. So any new program needs to come with new funding. Or a healthy mix of creativity, collaboration, and elbow grease.
One dimension of injury prevention is a quality strength and conditioning program. Over the past two years, Hockinson High School (HHS) has been replacing and upgrading the equipment in its weight room. This year, HHS also launched a Central Washington University College-in-the-Classroom Strength and Conditioning course. Meanwhile, Hockinson Middle School (HMS) began exploring how it could create a strength and conditioning space on its campus for its students and athletes. HMS Principal Bess Colpron, Athletic Director Sid Slom and HSD Superintendent Steve Marshall collaborated and came up with a solution: Clean out and transform a room that was part of the former HMS campus into a workout annex that could be used by middle school PE students and athletes as well as our Community Ed program.
The project: As is usually the case, it was a team effort. HSD Operations Supervisor Dave Wilson and our Grounds employees emptied the room, which was being used for storage and full of old filing cabinets, miscellaneous items, and an old HMS scoreboard. Wilson kept the scoreboard, discarded the broken items, and relocated the useful items. Custodian Maria Mendoza cleaned the room. Then on December 23, Marshall and the district’s five AmeriCorps members painted the walls. Marshall then installed rubber flooring. Wilson returned to install rubber cove base as well as some dumbbell racks that were purchased with a small rebate the district received from Clark County. He also swapped out the fluorescent lamps (2688 watts) in the room’s fourteen fixtures with new LED lamps (784 watts). Soon, Sid Slom and Kasey Powers from HHS will finish the project by transferring some of the weight equipment that is no longer in use at the high school to the middle school annex.
The conclusion: As the HSD has learned through its bond planning, square footage is precious. Estimates for new construction range from $500-800 per sq. ft. By adaptively reusing this room, it’s reclaiming and maximizing a space that was underutilized. Marshall is excited about the possibilities. “We worked hard so we could have the room ready for [HMS] Girls Basketball and Track,” said Marshall. “But it doesn’t end there. Our middle school PE teachers are thinking of ways to incorporate strength training into their classes and Community Education is also exploring the idea of evening classes for teenagers and seniors [citizens]. To me, that’s a ‘win-win-win.’”
* Using a resource for a new purpose that is different from its original purpose.
After (l) and Before (r)
