Multiple Renovations Underway at Murray Ave.

by Judy Silberstein

(July 17, 2003) Changes are ongoing at Murray Avenue – inside and out. There’s a new administration: Jennifer Monaco has taken over the principalship from Elizabeth Dreier, who retired after seventeen years at the helm, and Michelle Cohen has just been hired to replace Assistant Principal Gregory Middleton who has gone to the White Plains school district. The new administrators will me moving into a completely new office suite. At this point the space has been entirely gutted and stripped, but workers expect to have the walls up, the carpets down, and the desks in place in time for the start of school.

On a recent tour of the building conducted by Assistant Superintendent Sarah Tate, Head Custodian Billy Fraoili was keeping an eye on operations and there were carpenters in the administrative suite, electricians in the basement, backhoe operators on the sidewalks, and numerous other contractors and sub-contractors crawling all over the building.

The Murray Library awaits a facelift

Renovations are also ongoing in every classroom (new heating and ventilation to replace the 1930 era equipment and a new telephones to augment the antique public address system), in the library (new paint, carpeting, circulation desk, computer station, and furniture), in the small gym (newly covered walls), in the main corridor (a newly designed greeting area and new floors), in a newly designated media lab-library annex, and all around the perimeter of the building. The roof’s been fixed and the windows replaced last year.

Sun streams in through new windows, as this Murray classroom prepares for a new heating system.

The projects are part of a multi-year overhaul of each of the district’s six buildings. The current work is being financed primarily through a $49.7 million bond approved by the voters in 2001. $4.2 million of that has gone to Murray, and Murray parents, teachers, administrators and custodians have collaborated on the design and details with the District Building Committee and architects from the firm of Perkins Eastman.

On the outside, the aged, rusting chain link fences will disappear and there will be minor improvements to the playgrounds. There will be more dramatic facelifts at the main entrance on Murray Avenue, with more welcoming benches, brick walks and landscaping. On Daymon Terrace, where most parents drop off and pick up children, the asphalt will be replaced with new sidewalks and some greenery.

The most innovative addition will be an outdoor nature center spanning most of one side of the building. A dry stream will run approximately 175 feet down the center, with plantings on either side providing mini “eco-systems” for students to explore. This approach to science and nature is an outcropping of plans hatched by Chatsworth First Grade teachers Naomi Gams-Tower and Alex Glass (See: Are Butterflies Supposed to Be Free?) that has not yet been fully implemented at Chatsworth. “We were looking at where else the concept would be applicable," said Assistant Superintendent Sarah Tate as she provided a tour of the grounds and building.

“The project is in good hands,” the Murray PTA advised parents in a letter sent home in March.. “Sarah Tate, Assistant Superintendent, and George McNally, Director of Facilities will be the District staff responsible. The District has also hired Greyhawk North America to be the Construction Managers and they will handle the daily construction issues. The Murray custodial staff will also be on hand all summer to provide invaluable assistance and knowledge of the Murray building to the contractors as the project progresses.”

They concluded, “It should make for an entertaining summer, watching the changes take place right in our own neighborhood. And most excitingly, we can all look forward to entering our ‘new and improved’ school next fall.”