By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Hays USD 489 cut the ribbon on additions and renovations at O’Loughlin Elementary School Wednesday night.
Classes started Thursday.
North and south additions were funded through a $146-million bond issue that also included a new high school, renovations of the former high school into a middle school, an addition at Roosevelt Elementary School and renovation of the former middle school into a new elementary school.
Superintendent Ron Wilson thanked the community for its support through the project.
“The one thing that I want to make sure happens tonight is that we celebrate the community that we live in, because the community showed support for the O'Loughlin family as well as all of our families across the district with the support of the bond issue,” he said.
“That just can't go understated for everything that it has done for our schools and will do for our community for a lot of years.”
Wilson also thanked Nabholz Construction, the district’s construction manager, and DLR, the district’s architect on the project.
He also thanked staff members for their patience during construction and the school board for its support of the bond-funded projects.
“This just doesn't work without people who really want to work together and to make things as good as it can be, and I'm over the top excited about where we're at,” Wilson said.
Principal Renee Burns thanked parents and teachers for their patience through construction.
“Teachers, I think a lot of people don't understand that a school is a building, but it really is, especially for an elementary school, an extension of our homes,” she said.
“We spend so much time here, and the past few days are evidence. You're going to walk into some beautiful classrooms today, and I'm so excited for all of you to see them.”
The north addition houses the new second-grade wing and will double as a storm shelter. It also includes a collaboration room.
“I don't know if you realize this, but principals and teachers stay up at night worrying about your babies,” Burns said. “This is my 20th year in education, and the fact that we did not have a tornado shelter is embarrassing and awful, and we have one now. That comfort is just something that I'm very glad that we have now, not only as a parent but as an educator.”
The school’s south addition includes a new cafeteria, kitchen and art room.
The school’s former stage was renovated into a music room.
The school also has a new entrance on the south side, and a new drop-off and pick-up area was added off 12th Street.
Burns thanked the community for its patience with traffic congestion on Hall Street and said she hopes the new road will ease the congestion.
The rest of the school received new flooring and paint.
The two-year renovation project also included a $1-million project to repair the sewage system.
After the ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, students and parents toured the school and visited classrooms.
A ribbon-cutting for the renovations at Felten Elementary School, the former middle school, will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday. Classes will start at Felten on Tuesday.