Three events during the third week of January marked some pivotal moments at Pine Crest Elementary School in Sanford, Florida.
On Monday, Jan. 13, Wharton-Smith project team members invited students, teachers, and staff to sign their name on a steel beam that will become part of their new 110,754-square-foot school.
On Friday, Jan. 17, more than 180 Wharton-Smith team members, design team members, subcontractors, and officials from Seminole County Public Schools celebrated the topping out of Pine Crest. As workers entered what will be the school’s media center, they received t-shirts, raffle tickets for a chance to win more than $2,000 in prizes, and a delicious meal from Bubbalou’s Bodacious Bar-B-Que.
During the event, Superintendent Tim Moore, said, “It’s been 132 days, and we’ve come this far. It’s a hell of an accomplishment and we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for everybody in this room. We appreciate everybody working safe, working clean, working with each other. It’s a tight schedule, we know that it’s not always going to be perfect conditions, but we have good weather in front of us, and we’ll finish strong.”
After the topping out, the entire school with nearly 700 students watched as the beam they had signed on Monday was flown in and secured in place all while waving their plastic Wharton-Smith hardhats and shouting, “Raise that beam!”
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The new school will feature 53 classrooms along with labs, administration area, dining, media center, and other support spaces to accommodate 930 student stations. The $24 million project also includes new car and bus circulations, parking, retention areas, and site amenities such as covered walkways, playground areas, playfield, play structures, and phased demolition of all buildings with the exception of two structures that will be renovated.
