Roof work continues at Hedding Grade School in the Abingdon-Avon School District.
The roofs at the high school and Hedding were to be replaced over the summer. The High School’s roof was finished up — with just a punch list of final details to be completed.
District 276 Superintendent Dr. Mike Curry tells WGIL that several different delays have resulted in work at the grade school to continue after the school year has already started.
He said that delays with the start by the contractor, delays with materials, weather, and then the start of the school year have forced construction crews to work after kids are out of class.
“We can’t have people tearing off a roof while kids are trying to learn. So, we had to push that start time back which then cut into hours in which there was enough daylight to work,” Curry said. “So it’s just been one thing after another. Once we got the late start the weather didn’t cooperate and then the fact we’re here to educate kids in an environment that doesn’t have a lot of banging and scraping on the roof. It all just kind of snowballed.”
Curry said they’re completing the roof of the gym, which will actually be the last roof work to be done. Then contractors will turn to metalwork, such as downspouts. He said they’re making progress. It’s just not that fast.
Additionally, the traffic pattern around Hedding could change in the not-too-distant future.
Due to heavy congestion from parents dropping off and picking up their children, Dr. Curry says that the district was approached by Abingdon’s Chief of Police, Paul Cates, about a change in the traffic pattern.
He says that the plans haven’t been finalized but currently involve turning West Latimer Street into a partial one-way, to allow parents to drop off their student.
“There will be a drop off lane only. So you can’t get out of your car. You just drop your student off. There will be some parking and then there’ll be room in the middle to just drive on through.”
Curry anticipates it could be implemented by the end of the year.
“We’re looking at maybe after Thanksgiving Break. Continue to get all the planning done, get the signs in the ground, get the striping done right before Thanksgiving Break.”
Additionally, he said that there would be lots of information sent out to parents to make sure they’re educated on the new procedure of dropping off kids. He thinks that everyone will see the merit in the plans once they’ve been implemented.
Curry adds that if the traffic pattern switch ends up not working out, they can go back to the old system but he thinks it’s worth trying.
