Major Construction Nears Completion at MHS

Mamaroneck Avenue School Work Underway

by Joan R. Simon

(September 8, 2005) As students returned to Mamaroneck High School this week, they encountered a vastly different landscape at their school, with completion nearing for a new addition that was a major part of the $49.7 million bond passed four years ago.

The new addition joining the Palmer and Post buildings will house:

• A two-story multi-tiered classroom to be used for large group instruction and monthly School Board meetings, as well as community meetings; the room contains an oversized built-in video screen and is equipped with wireless Internet connection.

• A new suite for the guidance counselors in the expanded overpass between Palmer and Post, along with new offices for the school principal, Athletic Department, College Information Center, Youth Employment Service (YES), Teacher Institute, Student Activites, and school store.

• A high-tech, 27,000 volume library, which opened last February. (See: Library Opens)

Tthe first School Board study session of the year began with a tour of the new construction, including a view of the new multi-tiered meeting room at MHS.

The addition also offers a dramatic new entry into the high school from the Post Road.

Student Café to open this month

A new student cafe, which will be completed in a few weeks, is situated in the space that formerly housed the old library, immediately adjacent to the new addition. It will feature small eating areas, as well as one larger one, with seats for 230 students.

Student Café: opening soon.

In a school of 1400 students, the seating capacity would seem to be inadequate, but School Board president Celia Felsher commented that if it “becomes overcrowded, we would be happy to have that problem.” Currently, few students remain on campus at lunch.

The new café will have counter seating at a pizza oven and two separate serving areas for grilled foods and for deli sandwiches. The café will share a state-of-the-art kitchen with the new faculty dining room next door.

Other highlights of the new construction include:

-- Renovation of classrooms in the Palmer building (which will be completed next summer)

-- Handicap accessibility for the entire school, including a wheelchair lift at the “C-wall” steps entering the Palmer side and an elevator connecting the three levels of Palmer (both project to be completed by next fall); there is an elevator in the Post Rd. building at the corner of the science wing.

School Entrances Restricted

Of the dozens of exterior doors in the sprawling high school, only two will now remain open after 8:30 am during the school day. The main door of the new addition will serve as the Post Rd. entrance. On the Palmer side, the entry will be the door next to the large hanging globe (which now has a modern-day twin outside the multi-tiered classroom in the new addition). Students will still be able to exit the school from any exterior door.

When asked how this change was being accepted by the school community on the first day of school, the director of facilities, George McNally, laughingly responded that there had been “plenty of complaints.”

Mamaroneck Avenue School Addition Begins to Rise

Across town at Mamaroneck Avenue School, the construction story is very different -- a major new addition is just beginning to take shape, with completion expected by the start of school next year. The former playground along Mamaroneck Avenue, has been sodded over and will replace the Little League field where the addition is being built. The track has been redone and there is a generous blacktop area where the older children will play at lunch.

The new two-story wing will add space for ten new classrooms and will allow for new lunchrooms to be built in the older sections of the school. (See: Mamaroneck Ave. School Breaks Ground on Expansion Project)

A modern addition to the Mamaroneck Avenue School is rising on the site of a former ball field.

In addition to the existing play equipment for Kindergarten and first grade students, there is a newly fenced in play area in front of the school that will be used by 2nd and 3rd graders at lunch. The PTA has already raised $40,000 for new equipment to be installed on the Ralph Avenue side of the building (which will become the new front entrance) when the new addition is completed. The school district will match the total funds raised by the PTA.

When queried about all the changes in the district, the new superintendent Dr.Paul Fried commented: “It’s exciting! I’ve been through some construction projects, but not of this scope.”

Front Page

Print This Page
Email this page