Dean Chase (left), a project manager for the ongoing Centreville Elementary School addition, shows Centreville Board of Education members the progress being made on the site during the board’s meeting Monday.
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
CENTREVILLE — With a new addition to Centreville Elementary School a few months away from completion, Centreville Public Schools Board of Education members got a sneak peek at how it is progressing during their meeting Monday.
The 5,155-square foot addition to the elementary school will add a new cafeteria, serving line and music room, with a hallway, storage area and two new bathrooms included. Work on the addition started late last summer, and is expected to be available for the school district to move in by April 3.
Leading the tour was Dean Chase, the project manager for the addition, and he said there ha-ven’t been too many hiccups with the project as of yet, and it’s on schedule for being completed on time.
“We had quite the push in the summer, not necessarily for this addition, but as soon as we’ve gotten into this space, it’s been going really well,” Chase said.
The elementary school addition is part of the first phase of a $17.1 million bond proposal passed by voters in Centreville back in May 2023. The project is about $3.1 million of that total.
During the tour, board members learned about the space, both inside and out, beginning with the space around the addition, which would be an asphalt drive when it’s complete. The drive, Chase said, wouldn’t be done until after April 3, since asphalt plants aren’t open during that time. Earthwork and prep for the asphalt would take place outside through the majority of April. Currently, Chase said there’s still plenty of work to do over the next few months to get the space ready.
There was some discussion amongst the board members and project crew about the bathrooms and concerns about kids locking themselves in the bathroom. Board President Rod Detwiler said they would need to have additional discussions about how the bathrooms would be set up.
With the cafeteria, Chase said windows are about two or three weeks out, and that there would be a “lot of daylight” that will come into the space once it’s completed. About 192 kids will be able to fit in the cafeteria once things are complete.
In the music room, Chase said there would be a storage room in the back and carpet flooring, with any additional acoustic materials to be added in after the room is completed.
“It’s a wide-open space, so it’s whatever they turn it into,” Chase said. “It’ll have a typical acoustical ceiling, and then the carpet floor, and then the rest of it gets filled out with furniture and whatever else a music room fills out with. It’s a big open room at this point.”
The one area the board members were not able to get a look at was the serving area, with con-struction workers citing fire marshal regulations for not being able to see the space as of yet.
Following the tour, CPS Superintendent Chad Brady said he was happy to see the progress being made with the new elementary addition, and mentioned the project is currently on budget as well.
“It looks amazing, and we’re really excited to be able to offer two spaces that we’ve never been able to offer before, having a dedicated serving area for kids to eat lunch and breakfast, and an actual music room dedicated for music classes for our students at the elementary,” Brady said. “As the district continues to grow, these spaces are badly needed, and so far the construction, in my opinion, has not missed a beat.”
Overall, Brady said he’s excited to be able to move the classrooms in during this school year.
“It’s going to be a great day in April when we’re able to open it up and start putting kids in it. It’s going to be exciting to see these youngsters have a music room dedicated for that instruction, a place to eat lunch dedicated specifically for that that’s not in the gym, like it has been since the beginning of the district,” Brady said. “It just bodes well for the community at large; the voters, they’re the ones that supported the initiative, and we’re happy to make it happen on their be-half.”
In other business…
- The board cast their vote for TiAnna Harrison of Kalamazoo Public Schools in the election for the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) Board of Directors. Harrison is up against Elizabeth O’Dell, the president of the St. Joseph County ISD Board of Education.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
