Edna Maguire on the Rise as Reconstruction Moves Forward

Steel beams are in place, and the new Edna Maguire Elementary School is starting to take shape.

“Things seem to be on track,” said Tim Ryan, the Mill Valley School District’s director of maintenance and operations.

Edna Maguire contractor Overaa Construction poured the last of the foundation for the project, finishing with the administration building, according to Ryan. Since January, workers have been using a 75-foot tall retractable crane to install the metal frames of the first and second grade wings so far. Structural steel deliveries will continue throughout the month of February, and additional concrete pouring for slabs are scheduled for the first week of March.

“Next you’ll start to see us go vertical on all the buildings,” Ryan said. Workers will also install the floor pad for the multipurpose room, he said.

“You’ll be able to see just how big the gymnasium complex will be,” he said.

Community groups also hope to raise about $650,000 to turn to the 11-acre undesignated area into a sports field, and plans to open the new bike path are moving forward as well. On Saturday, Feb. 9, AT&T installed a new pole at the Lomita intersection but with rain, site constraints and scheduling conflicts it's not expected to reopen until April 1.

“We want to thank the biking community for their understanding and the great cooperation they have shown while this detour is in place,” Ryan wrote in his update on the Mill Valley School District website.

April is also when the district will have a sense of how much of an impact the weather and other factors have had on the project, and will be able to determine if the new campus will meet the goal of opening for the first day of school this fall.

“We’ll know in April if we’re going to make August 28,” Ryan said.

The original proposal called for three years of construction with a summer 2014 completion date, but the board cut that time in half after concerns from parents and residents that the timeframe would create an undue burden on students and the neighborhood. The $35 million reconstruction is being funded by Measure C, a bond measure approved by voters in November 2009.

Ryan said he hopes to have the finished by fall 2013 as planned, and has expedited the steel production through four different metal fabrication facilities in Nevada, Utah and Oregon.

“We’re doing everything we can,” he said.

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