With the beginning of the new school year on August 24, the students coming to Marquette School will be greeted by a brand new addition. The cornerstone of this new addition is an impressive two story fan shaped entrance that stands at the vertex of the two sections of new construction.

Once inside the "new space", students will be welcomed by the new administrative area that provides improved space for both the office staff and Marty Powers, the principal. During the summer months, while the Marquette students and staff were away, the building addition that was just a skeleton on the last day of school began to take shape. The roof decking and membrane were put down, the exterior brick infill walls were laid up and the window units installed as were the storefront door systems at the entrance. While this work was being completed, the construction on the new interior spaces was underway. A new IMC and multipurpose room and cafeteria were being created out of the new and old spaces. New lighting and improved electrical systems were installed. Old flooring was taken up and a colorful new one went down.

Over in O'Keefe Middle School, new science rooms were being formed, the cafeteria reconfigured and improved, and the field house attended to with a new floor system and preparations for the new bleachers. In both schools, enclosures were being built to accommodate the new elevators that will make each school physically accessible to all. And at every window opening around the whole building, new insulated window systems were replacing the old, inefficient existing windows.

Outside, sitework was also underway. New concrete walks at the entrance to Marquette were constructed. West of the fieldhouse, a new asphalt play area with new basketball goals was created. New trees and plantings were put in the ground and grass planted around the new addition.

The start of the new school year marks the end of a long struggle by parents, staff, and community members to provide the much needed space improvements for Marquette Elementary and O'Keefe Middle Schools. The beginning of this school year also signals a new and exciting chapter in the story of OUR neighborhood schools.

-David Mandedhr


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