Lynn Classical construction heading into final phase

LYNN – Thursday’s graduation will mark the official countdown to the last day of school for sophomores and juniors at Classical High School and the start of a busy summer for construction crews looking to complete a renovation project before students return in September.Contractors are in the midst of the fourth and final phase of an extensive, two-year repair project at the O’Callaghan Way school brought on by a sinking support slab that has caused cracked and crumbling walls and other structural problems.While workers have primarily worked night shifts after students leave, the summer months will allow for work to continue throughout the day and will speed up work that needs to be done to the outside of the school.Work was recently completed on the freshman wing of the building, where new piles were driven deeper into the bedrock below the former landfill site to support a fresh concrete slab.Phase 4 will see contractors doing the same work to the administrative wing of the building as well as some re-wiring and exterior work.”They should be pouring the new slab this week and then once that is done they will start re-building the walls again,” said Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan. “We will be relocating some of the lines outside the school once classes are over and we are looking at the end of July to finish up the inside.”Construction has been going on at the school for two years, displacing freshman students to the old Classical High School – now the Fecteau-Leary Junior/Senior High School on North Common Street.The freshman academy has been so successful that the Classical staff is hoping to recreate the format in some way when students return to the main building in September.Although the construction crew will be finished with the administrative wing fairly early in the summer, school department employees will still face the daunting task of moving furniture, equipment, books and supplies into the new office space.Most of the equipment is stored in portable trailers next to the school, while Donovan decided to store the books in a sub-basement at City Hall where they would be immune to changes in weather conditions.Donovan said he has been happy with the work thus far and says, for the most part, the project remains on schedule.”We are still on schedule and moving along pretty well,” he said. “There are a few setbacks, as there always are on construction projects, but for the most part everything has gone according to the schedule.”Aside from re-opening a brand new ground floor to students next year, Classical is also preparing to replace retiring principal Warren White this August.Superintendent Catherine Latham said the position has been posted and resumes are due later this month.