Toliver gym nearing completion, renovation ahead of schedule

Published 8:54 am Thursday, October 26, 2017

Kendra Peek/kendra.peek@amnews.com
Matt Kerr with Griggs Enterprises attaches a handle on an exit in the Toliver Elementary School gymnasium. The gym is almost complete, another step in the school’s renovation.

The gymnasium and second floor at the Toliver Elementary School is almost complete, said Ed McKinney, director of Pupil Personnel for the Danville Independent Schools, putting the current phase of the school’s renovation ahead of schedule.

“The main message is, we are ahead of schedule, the columns will be finished soon, we still have money in contingency — things are on line, time-wise and budget-wise,” he said, walking around the school on Wednesday morning.

McKinney shared the good news with the Danville Board of Education on Monday night.

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During the gym renovations, he said, they were able to preserve the existing floor, which is believed to be over 60 years old. McKinney said they initially thought it might have to be replaced. They also left the gymnasium walls alone, except with a coat of paint. The stage was closed, leaving a smaller stage; the larger area was turned into a music classroom.

Two small bathrooms, an office and a locker room area were also renovated.

Before students can access the gym, he said a “punch list” had to be completed, which is when the architect and owners walk through with someone from the construction crew to examine the work, making a list of things that were missed or need to be touched up.

Kendra Peek/kendra.peek@amnews.com
Toliver Elementary School gym is almost complete, another step in the renovation project to transform the school into the Toliver Intermediate School. Finishing touches including painting the steps around the stage, in the background.

A few weeks later, after the final touches — McKinney guesstimates sometime around the middle of November — students will be allowed in the gym.

The second floor of the original Toliver building is currently being worked on and is about a month ahead of schedule. Teachers will begin transitioning sometime later in November, and construction crews will move to the first floor of the original building to complete it.

McKinney said credit for being ahead of schedule should be given, in part, to Griggs Enterprises, the construction company working on the project.

“Griggs has been very responsive,” McKinney said. “Based on the success Griggs has had, we feel good about hitting the May deadline.”

Kendra Peek/kendra.peek@amnews.com
The new entrance to the Edna Toliver Intermediate School.

When the Toliver Intermediate School opens in August, it will house the district’s second through fifth grade students. Preschool, kindergarten and first grades will be housed at Hogsett Elementary School, which will also undergo a renovation process to be better equipped for the students. The board of education discussed a schematic design that includes three preschool classrooms, six kindergarten classrooms and six first grade classrooms. They are expected to approve the initial plan next week.

Jennie Rogers is slated to be home to the district’s central office, which is currently housed in a rented space on the campus of the Kentucky School for the Deaf.