GREENSBORO, N.C. — Each day, we see more and more of what passing the two-billion dollar bond for Guilford County Schools is creating for the community.
Of the first six schools on the casting list, we are seeing the scenes unfold.
Brooks Global and Kiser Middle School have recently held topping-out ceremonies.
Peck, Foust, and Claxton are nearing their final acts, but this state-of-the-art school is taking center stage this month.
It's the New Visual and Performing Arts Elementary School.
Jason Lembke is the design leader for the DLR Group. The group is heading the project.
"This visual and performing arts elementary school really will stand on the legacy of the Peeler Open School before it," said Lembke. "As you walk into the building and see the performance commons. This is a dual-purpose space. It allows students not only to leverage it for those performances but also for dining during the day with our food services on the other end of the space. On the stage you can see how students can interact with one another, using flexible furniture. It captures the essence of what this performance venue could look like for them not only during the school day but well into the night for the community."
Lembke said the scale of the building, the acoustics in the building, the lighting, and audio and visual systems, all a supporting role in helping students nurture that growth.
Whether it's performance, graphic, digital, or spoken art, the school is designed to support each student's needs.
There are collaborative workspaces and practice rooms, and when you look at the outside of the school, Lembke said it captures joy.
"We listened to the community, the neighbors, they talked a lot about the joy, a lot about the opportunities to innovate and so that meant a lot to us," said Lembke. "We use the sun as a design tool, so in the canopy that's outside that says, 'Art is Joy,' that will cast a shadow on the building that will move throughout the day, and just have a visual expression of that joy to the community as a reflection."
Joy comes after the lights were dimmed in 2018 when a tornado swept through Greensboro.
It went through the center of what was Peeler Elementary School. After choosing to tear it down and rebuild, it gave the group inspiration for the build.
"The first time I was on site, we were touring just as the project was getting going, the neighbors came up, they were instantly excited about the potential of having school back in this community and from that very first day, I've taken it as an opportunity in the design team to really bring those keys back to this community and allow students to flourish," said Lembke.
Soon students will have the chance to perform, but after the design process and preparing the site, the build had a bit of an intermission.
The budget was originally set for nearly 34 million dollars.
Dr. Julius Monk, the Deputy Superintendent of Business and Operations, said with inflation, supply chain issues, and an emphasis on more safety features, it's more than double in cost at nearly 70 million dollars.
"These budget numbers were developed back in 201 And since that time we've had the pandemic," said Dr. Monk. "Inflation was about a percent and a half a month, but it feels like month after month, that is getting better, people are going back to work. I'm encouraged by that."
This is a bigger budget for this school. Dr. Monk said it's more than what this project will need and the excess funds should roll back into the bond for other projects.
" I think it's important to note that the original study called for 2.7 Billion dollars and with the two bonds together, it was $2 billion, so even if construction prices stayed the same, there would need to be more funding because buildings are gonna get older," he said.
Remember, Guilford County Schools Superintendent Dr. Whitney Oakley said last March that there was always the expectation that issues could arise during the process.
"I think it's important to say we're not immune to supply chain issues and staffing shortages," Dr. Oakley said in March.
Dr. Monk hopes the community knows how much this bond money is changing the community for good.
"Their bond dollars are truly going to work," said Dr. Monk. "They're going to work to build better facilities for our students and staff, better facilities for our community, and I hope they see the importance of keeping up this momentum as we move forward and in future years to make sure that we don't find ourselves where we have to have such large bond referendums all the time that we're keeping up to date with our facilities."
Over the last week, the dirt has been moving at the New Visual and Performing Arts School site.
While it's come with some challenges, the show will go on.
The school was originally scheduled to be completed by June 2024, but due to the delays, it is now expected to be done by 2025.