TJ plans to improve the gym, parking lot, and other school facilities.
Photo by Grant Laman
On January 7th, the TJ Administration met with DPS Project Manager Michael Butler to discuss a variety of plans to improve the school’s gym, parking lot, front entrance, and doors. Butler will be overseeing landscaping and construction work around these areas of TJ tentatively scheduled to begin by June 2011. Principal Sandra Just says she hopes that the project will be completed before the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year.
While Just admits that the progress being made on TJ during the summer may be “slightly disruptive” for summer programs, she has high hopes for the school’s ability to stay active during this time. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to work around it for summer school,” said Just. “But regardless, it’s going to be a very busy place.”
A primary reason for the improvements being made on TJ is the involvement of Head Basketball Coach and Teacher Grant Laman, who presented Butler with pictures and layouts of faulty TJ facilities. “I tried to make my gentle persuasions,” said Laman. “I taped off all the dead spots – or spots where the ball doesn’t bounce correctly – on the gym floor. I also took pictures of the spots.”
Ultimately, Laman spent over 20 hours in the gym providing evidence for his statement to the project manager. “I spent forever standing in the gym, bouncing a ball, and figuring out when it was non-responsive,” said Laman. “Through a lot of labor, I was trying to prove that the gym floor needs to be out of here.”
Laman also convinced project managers to cut a hole in the wresting room as an entry point for a camera, which he hoped would help display the room’s faults. “From my standpoint, if there’s a school that needs new floors, it’s TJ,” commented Laman.
After meeting with the administration, Butler intends on improving the TJ gym by installing new wood flooring, as well as putting in new bleachers. “The bleachers we have presently have been there for 50 years,” said Just. “Hopefully the new ones will last even longer. Anyone who has been on our current bleachers knows they aren’t the best ones. I have a feeling that safer, newer bleachers will draw more people to our sporting events.”
The school parking lot is also on its way to becoming safer by filling in potholes, taking out bumps, and removing parking barriers. “The barriers are really inconvenient,” said Just. “Students are always accidentally driving up on them, and they really aren’t needed. Removing those and other parking-related obstacles should make the parking lot a much safer place to drive.”
Along with other general improvements on TJ facilities, Butler intends on patching up the front entrance to the school. “It’s not all going to be new,” said Just, “but it will definitely be, for lack of a better word, improved.”
Due to work being done on the school’s parking lot and front entrance, TJ also plans on having separate entrances to its facilities during construction. “We’re going to have to find new ways to get into the campus and the school during the summer,” Just acknowledged. “The school will have to work something out for the student parking lot so that everyone can park safely during the summer hours. We should know where these alternate entrances will be sometime after spring break, seeing as the project is still in the planning phase at the moment.” In addition to these alternate entrances, the gym will also be closed throughout the summer.
After construction is complete, Just anticipates not only improved facilities, but also improved morale among students and faculty. “We’re going to make of a lot of improvements around TJ with care and concern,” commented Just. “I’m really looking forward to the fresh feeling we’ll get around TJ next year.”
