Ogden Middle School Renovation in Oregon City, Oregon
July, 2020
While the return of students to classrooms across the country this fall is in a state of flux due to the pandemic and COVID19, school districts across the region have been moving forward with construction and renovation projects supported by voter-approved bonds. One such project in Oregon City is the Ogden Middle School remodel and expansion which broke ground in March and is slated to be completed in time for the 2021/2022 school year.
DAY CPM has been the owner’s representative for the Oregon City School District, providing bond oversight and guiding the 34 million dollar renovation of Ogden Middle School. DAY CPM’s Stephen Wasserberger, bond manager and senior project manager, and Tracy Goodman, PM CM, have been working with district leaders, including Superintendent Larry Didway, project architects and general contractors since early 2019 to ensure the newly envisioned middle schools will satisfy the vision set forth by the district and the community.
The passage of the bond at the end of 2018 “presented a generational opportunity for the district to invest in the future and to reimagine the way middle school students are taught,” Stephen stated, adding that “it has been exciting to be a part of such a significant project in our community.” The DAY CPM team is providing budget oversight, managing the scope of the project and the schedule, acting as a liaison between the design team and the owner, and orchestrating the complex logistics inherent with moving classrooms. They have been involved every step of the way, initially advising the district with pre-bond services to both meet the vision and allow for contingencies.
During the design phase, in January of 2019, Stephen and Tracy, along with the team of designers, Superintendent Didway, and other school officials and teachers visited six schools in San Diego. The targeted schools are on the cutting edge of public education and are setting the example for the rest of the country with their successful implementation of design-thinking method, which is student-centered, project-based learning. The new Ogden Middle School design will incorporate much of what these leading schools have set as the new standard and it will become an example for other schools in the region to follow.
Oregon City Middle School students also participated in the design phase and were able to share their own needs and goals, as well as their anxieties and concerns. “Involving the kids was a crucial decision and instrumental to the overall design,” Stephen said. For example, “we learned how important a connection to the outside and nature is to their positive school experience.” The newly renovated school will include ample natural light and connections to the outdoors.
The Bond project includes two middle schools. In addition to the remodel of Ogden Middle School, the project is replacing Gardiner Middle School with a new state of the art 78 million dollar facility. Originally the two projects were going to be staggered, but to keep costs down, minimize disruption to the teachers and students, and better meets the goals of the District, the two projects have moved forward in tandem. This is also allowing the district to address concerns of equity and parity. DAY CPM is also involved with move-management – taking everything out of the classrooms to a staging area in the gym, then moving everything into modular units, and finally back to the new classrooms.
The team at DAY CPM is also overseeing the procurement of all the furniture, fixtures and equipment for both schools, based on the architect’s specs and a “furniture fair” the team held to get feedback from teachers and students. As Stephen points out, “the district is really making an effort to support the teachers and help them be successful in the new schools.” To that end, a life-size, 3-D mock-up of a learning neighborhood was built in the old high school gym. The furniture fair was held in the model neighborhood, where teachers and students were able to try out the furniture and also become more accustomed to the new classroom setting.
Both schools are projected to be completed in time for the fall of 2021, and teachers will be able to move into their new classrooms in August 2021. They will have a full month to get set-up, acclimate to the new space, and learn how to function and teach in the new classrooms.
Renderings courtesy BRIC Architecture