Construction at Aragon
The sounds of workers stomping on the roofs of classrooms and jackhammers during school hours mean only one thing: construction.
Construction on the Aragon campus began three weeks before school started as bulldozers tore apart the two old swimming pools adjacent to Center Court.
The new pool was slated to be finished in November. However, according to Aragon Principal Patricia Kurtz, there was a delay in the pool’s approval by the State of California’s Division of the State Architect, thus delaying the overall construction of the pool.
The bid to develop the pool was divided amongst two contractors – one to demolish the pool, and one to build the new one.
The construction of the pool is now expected to be complete by the end of January.
“It’ll be complete just in time for swim season,” Kurtz says. “Unfortunately, it’s not Olympic-sized, so collegiate-sized is what we stuck with,” Kurtz says.
In addition to the pool, Aragon has been installing new photo voltaic solar panels, solar panels that use cells to absorb and utilize sunlight as energy. At a cost of $30 million, the San Mateo Union High School District, in coordination with each school’s environmental clubs and communities, got their solar panel proposal approved and the construction is now underway.
Aragon is expected to receive most of the solar panels because of the campus’ flat roofs and optimal location. Currently, construction workers are reconstructing the roofs on campus to ensure the most efficient use of the solar panels.
The solar panels are expected to be completed within 18 months. Fortunately, the panels’ economic benefits will be utilized within the first nine months of their installation, saving SMUHSD $3 million annually in electricity costs.
“I think it’s a necessary change for Aragon,” says senior Eric Cura.“By making use of the sun’s resources for power, I think that Aragon’s taking a step forward towards keeping our earth green.”
“I think it’s really cool that Jason Bade [former president of the Aragon Environmental Impact Committee] started this [project] two years ago, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to go on, but it’s [happening],” Jina Lee says. “I think it’s something we should be proud of because we’re being eco-friendly compared to other schools. It’s really loud and annoying during class, but I think [it will be] worth it in the end.”
On top of the new pool and solar panels, Aragon has more construction projects laid out.
The state-of-the-art theatre, will take nine to twelve months to build.
In addition, they will construct a new “Career Technical Building” at Aragon. Expected to begin in the summer of 2011 after the theatre’s completion, it will house new classrooms for biotechnology, engineering, and multimedia classes.
These new construction projects are expected to begin when the 2011-2012 school year starts Kurtz believes, “It’s hard, but we’ll get through it.”
