NNHS renovation projects total nearly $1.5 million

By Staff Writer Taleena Nadkarni

The renovations completed over the summer of 2013 totaled nearly $1.5 million, according to District 203 Director of Buildings and Grounds Steve Mathis.

According to Facilities Manager Lisa Corrigan, the music wing was one major project that had been in the works for some time.

“We had been brainstorming some ideas for quite some time,” Corrigan said. “We try to prioritize [these changes] based on what we think are important.”

In addition to the music wing renovations, there were several large projects completed over the summer, including a press box overhaul and updates to the science rooms. Smaller modifications were made to the heating and air conditioning pipes, bathroom stalls, roof shingles, and fencing around the stadium, according to Mathis.

Mathis said the cost of the music wing renovations was $125,000. According to Corrigan, it was a large undertaking.

“We redid the band and chorus rooms, flattened the floors, and put new acoustical panels on the ceiling,” Corrigan said.

Fine Arts Department Chair Nick Janssen is pleased with the changes.

“It was such a large undertaking, and we were always waiting for it to happen,” Janssen said. “Now that it has, we are absolutely satisfied.”

The music wing has also been acoustically modified to meet the needs of students, according to Janssen.

Each room is now tuned to a specific setting so that kids can hear their own instruments or vocals better. The ceiling tiles were made with sound transfer, which is how 99% of sound resonates in the room during rehearsal, Janssen said.

“It’s a cleaner sound,” Janssen said. “[Students] are getting a much better musical experience.”

Janssen also said he has noticed immense changes in student’s work ethic and social behavior because of these performance-enhancing changes.

“Our facilities were really bad last year,” Janssen said. “But kids walked in this year with the new facilities and felt like the school was finally paying attention to them.”

In addition to those involved with music, students in science rooms 141 and 142, as well as those involved in activities concerning the press box are noticing changes.

The floors and walls of the press box were redone. Likewise, the floors of the two science rooms were renovated to fulfill the needs of the science department, said Helms. The press box renovations cost $250,000, while the Science rooms renovation cost $260,000.

“There were some things we were holding off on because we were hopeful [construction] would be bigger,” said Helms. “But we realized that there wasn’t enough money to do that.”