Work on the Reno School expansion for Alice Deal Middle School is about to begin an accelerated phase, and its completion date is set for the end of this year. Principal James Albright sent us an update:
[box]Work on the Reno renovation/Deal addition continues. At the recent School Improvement Team, the Department of General Services (DGS) and the builder, MCN Builders, shared with the community that the final foundation permits were expected very soon; this will allow the new building to begin to take shape.
Work on the Reno School has received the required permits; workers have been conducting lead abatement inside and removing the pebbled shell on the outside.
Once the final permit for the remaining part of the project is secured, the project will pick up the pace. The current schedule for completing is slated for December, 2014. Two webcams, allowing the public to observe the construction project, are slated to be in place within a couple of weeks. These will be accessible from the DGS website as well as the Deal website (alicedeal.org).[/box]
It’s all happening about a year later than Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh had hoped.
The Deal renovation and modernization completed just five years ago increased the schools capacity to up to 980 sixth through eighth graders. But enrollment exceeded that level within a couple of years. And nearly 1250 students enrolled at Deal for the 2013-2014 school year, according to DCPS.
In 2012, at Cheh’s urging, the DC Council voted to speed funding for renovating the Reno School building, built in 1903 and long vacant. At the time, a Cheh aide told the Northwest Current that the expedited funding would mean that “the project could be complete by the beginning of winter break in 2013.”
Some additional photos of the site: